By Thomas Gerbasi

Madison Square Garden, New York City - If Carlos Cuadras was trying to get the public behind a rematch of his 2016 classic with Roman Gonzalez, he came up short, as he looked listless in winning a tougher than expected 10-round decision over David Carmona in super flyweight action.

Scores were 97-93 twice and 96-94 for Cuadras, now 36-1-1 with 27 KOs. Carmona falls to 20-4-5 with 8 KOs.

Not looking like the same fighter he was in his bout against 'Chocolatito' last September, Cuadras appeared to be either flat or uninterested against Carmona, who fired off a stiff jab and stayed in the pocket with his fellow Mexico City native but didn't do enough to surge into the lead against the former WBC champion.

Instead, Cuadras did enough to win rounds but never took the fight into second gear, silencing the crowd in the process. By the seventh round, Carmona's body work appeared to be taking its toll on Cuadras, who looked to be tiring as he shook his arms out and tried to catch a breather when he could. Carmona was clearly the fresher of the two, with his punches having a lot more snap on them as the fight entered the final two frames.

But while Carmona had the perfect opportunity to push the pace and try to pull off the upset, it didn't happen, allowing Cuadras to escape with the win.

Unbeaten up and comer Ryan Martin successfully defended his WBC Continental Americas lightweight title in the Pay-Per-View opener, halting Bryant Cruz in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-rounder.

Martin patiently stalked Cruz throughout the first round, picking up his work rate as the frame progressed. By the end of the round, he was opening up with both hands, and his body work had the Port Chester product on the defensive.

There were several spirited exchanges in the second and third as both fighters remained busy, but Martin had the edge throughout 

As Martin's steady stream of punches kept punishing Cruz, the points piled up, but the toughness of the New Yorker could not be questioned. In the fifth though, his chin began showing cracks, and things didn't improve in the sixth and seventh, as the bout became more one-sided.

Finally, Martin caught Cruz in the corner in the eighth, and after an unanswered series of blows, referee Harvey Dock intervened at the 45-second mark.

With the win, Cleveland's Martin improves to 18-0 with 10 KOs. Cruz falls to 17-2 with 8 KOs.