By Cliff Rold

30-year old former light heavyweight Edwin Rodriguez (28-1, 19 KO), 175 ½, of Worcester, Massachusetts, traded knockdowns with 33-year old Michael Seals (19-1, 14 KO), 174 ½, of Atlanta, Georgia en route to a rousing third round knockout win. The referee was Fred Steinwinder.

They got off to a monstrous start in the first. First it was Seals on the floor, courtesy of left to the shoulder and head area just thirty seconds into the round. Before the fight was a minute old, Seals returned the favor with a perfect short right to put Rodriguez on the floor. Not two minutes would pass before Seals sent Rodriguez to the floor inside ten seconds with huge right hand. Rodriguez struggled up before the toll of ten and the bell sounded before Seals could do more damage.

Off the stool for the second, Rodriguez was still within range of Seals and looking for a big shot. Both men were careful of each other, Seals looking for another counter right hand. Instead, he ate a massive right in the final minute of the round, dropping in a heap only to beat the count for the second time. The bell sounded with Seals in the corner and both men slinging power punches.

Moments into the third, another big right hand took what was left of the legs of Seals. He pirouetted into the ropes and spun to the floor. Fighting to get up, Seals could not beat the count and Steinwinder waved it off at :24 of round three.

TELEVISION FIGHTS

It was deja vu for Thomas "Top Dog" Williams, who once again traded opening round knockdowns with an opponent before getting a knockout of his own.

On Friday evening, it was Humberto Savigne who went balls to the wall with the D.C.-based light heavyweight, but ultimately blasted out in round two of their Spike TV-televised slugfest.

Williams was fighting for just the second time since the lone loss of his career, when a cut forced him to retire after five rounds of action versus former light heavyweight champ Gabriel Campillo last summer. Friday's bout, however, was more reminiscent of his knockout win over Cornelius White earlier last year, when the two combined for three knockdowns but with Williams finishing him off in the first round.

On this occasion, Williams had Savigne hurt and down early in the bout and fought as if another 1st round knockout was in store. Savigne had other ideas, recovering and catching Williams on the inside to even up the score.

Both fighters managed to avoid further fight altering punishment in the frame, but Williams was determined to make it a short night. Savigne was drilled early in round two and right back on the canvas. The South Florida-based slugger climbed back to his feet, but was caught with a hailstorm of punches before referee Keith Hughes jumped in to intervene.

The official time was 1:48 of round two.

Fernando Guerrero provided some much needed rounds for a show loaded with early knockouts. In the end, he scored a stoppage of his own in forcing Daniel Souza Santos into submission in the 7th round of their Spike TV-televised swing bout at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Souza Santos took advantage of Guerrero's slow start, as he was quicker to the punch in the opening round of his first career fight - and trip - to the United States.

From there, it was all Guerrero as he continued to close the gap in wearing down his foe. The bout was the first of the night to not feature knockdowns in any of the first two rounds, but Guerrero took care of that problem late in the fight. Souza Santos was worn out and fighting on fumes when finally collapsing to the canvas early in round seven.

Guerrero remained on the attack, unloading on the boxer from Brazil before referee Keith Hughes intervened. The official time was 1:45 of round seven.

Bryant Perrella had graced the undercard of several big Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) events in the past few months, but finally had the chance to appear in front of the cameras.

He didn't stick around very long, but left a lasting impression with a 1st round knockout of France's Chaquib Fadli.

The bout gained unexpected airtime on Spike TV, thanks to the early ending in the opening bout of the telecast courtesy of Thomas Williams' 2nd round knockout of Humberto Savigne. Perrella (12-0, 11KOs) was even quicker in his destruction of Fadli, scoring two knockdowns in the opening round before forcing the stoppage at 1:30 of round one.

A body shot forced Fadli (13-6, 7KOs) to double over, with referee Keith Hughes ruling that the ropes prevented his fall and thus ruling it a knockdown. Perrella immediately went back on the attack from the moment Fadli rose to his feet, dishing out a beating in his opponent's corner before forcing a second knockdown.

Fadli wanted to take an eight count and continue, but was overruled by the referee who wisely stopped the fight.

Perrella racks up his 6th career 1st round knockout, having now stopped his last nine foes.

Thoughts and prayers are with Fadli and his team, who have to travel back home to France. The 34-year old lives four hours away from Paris, which is now on strict curfew after a horrific attack on Friday, with more than 150 people having been killed as gunfire runs rampant.

NON-TV UNDERCARD

Alantez "SlyAzA" Fox picked up his second win in the span of four weeks, forcing Todd Manuel to retire on his stool following four one-sided rounds of middleweight action.

Fox (18-0-1, 7KOs) looked sharp from the opening bell, scoring both to the body and with long right hands upstairs. Manuel - who accepted the fight on less than one week notice after three other opponents said "Thanks but no thanks" - was dropped in round three and complaining of blurred vision after the fourth round. His corner erred on the side of caution and informed referee Keith Hughes to stop the fight.

The official time was 3:00 of round four.

Fox - 6'5" and just 23 years old - made his debut at middleweight and plans to remain at the weight at least until he's ready to challenge for a world title, which he hopes is as early as next year.

Nicholas Gavhin barely kept his unbeaten record intact, settling for a six-round majority decision over Juan Santiago. Scores were 57-57 even, 58-57 and 58-56 in favor of Gavhin (16-0-1, 10KOs), who put in work against an opponent who showed signs of a concussion but whose health was ignored by everyone with the power to do more.

Santiago was far too brave for his own good, throwing up near the end of round three and complaining of migraines as he was repeatedly struck with rabbit punches. Referee Fred Steinwinder III - who is also officiating the main event - never issued a warning, nor did he or the ringside physician check on Santiago at any point during the fight.

Gavhin goes the distance for the second straight time, as he was held to a draw in his previous ring appearance. To his credit, he knew he gave away key moments in rounds that wound up going in the opposite direction.

Radivoje Kalajdzic was perhaps in a hurry to hit the casino floors at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, as he wasted no time in blasting out Brazil's Fabio Garrindo in just 19 seconds.

The unbeaten cruiserweight - Bosnia born but now based out of St. Petersburg, Florida - landed a right hand a mere three seconds into the fight. Garrindo (28-5-1, 23KOs) - fighting in the United States for the first time in his career - slowly collapsed to the canvas, barely beating the count but never gaining his balance as referee Fred Steinwinder III stopped the contest.

Kalajdzic (21-0, 14KOs) now has 1st round knockouts in each of his last two starts.

Darwin Price worked hard to earn his ninth pro win in as many fights, taking an eight-round decision over Mexico's Alvaro Ortiz. Scores were 80-72 across the board for Price (9-0, 5KOs), who is based out of Houston and trains with Ronnie Shields. Ortiz (7-6-1, 5KOs) is 0-4-1 in 2015, but has now gone the distance with three straight unbeaten fighters, all in the span of just 60 days.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com