Steve Spark’s resilience served him well Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough to beat Gabriel Gollaz near Gollaz’s hometown.

The tough Australian junior welterweight withstood Gollaz’s onslaught and a knockdown in the sixth round and appeared to regain control of their entertaining 10-round fight, yet he lost a split decision on the Canelo Alvarez-John Ryder undercard at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico. Judges Ruben Cruz (96-93) and Erika Contreras (95-94) scored their fight for Guadalajara’s Gollaz, who lost 95-94 according to judge Jeremy Hayes.

The 28-year-old Gollaz improved to 27-3-1 (16 KOs).

The 26-year-old Spark, of Toowoomba, Australia, slipped to 16-3 (14 KOs). He went the distance for just the third time in eight years as a pro.

Gollaz drilled Spark with a right hand a little more than two minutes into the 10th and final round. Spark provided pressure in the 10th round and landed his fair share of shots while they traded from close distances.

Spark caught Gollaz with a right hand almost two minutes into the ninth round. They traded punches on the inside for much of that competitive ninth round.

Spark staggered Gollaz with a right hand that knocked him off balance with about 20 seconds to go in the eighth round.

Spark recovered from a sixth-round knockdown to unload power shots to Gollaz’s head in the final minute of the seventh round. Gollaz stayed on his feet during that sequence, but Spark regained some momentum after a difficult sixth round.

A left uppercut and right hand by Gollazo rocked Spark just after the halfway point of the sixth round. Spark tried to hold, but he took a body shot and went down to his gloves and knees with 1:18 remaining in the sixth round.

Gollaz battered Spark toward the end of the sixth round as well, but Spark remained on his feet until that round ended.

Ruiz counted it as a knockdown, but Spark answered his count at eight.

Gollaz’s right uppercut stopped Spark in his tracks barely 20 seconds into the sixth round.

With Spark backed against the ropes, they traded hard shots over the final 20 seconds of the fifth round.

Gollaz’s left hook landed flush with just under a minute remaining in the fifth round. Spark connected with a right hand barely 30 seconds into the fifth round, which slowed down Gollaz.

An aggressive Gollaz closed the fourth round strong. He threw a lot of punches in the final minute of it and clipped Spark with a right uppercut just before it ended.

Gollaz’s right uppercut landed and he followed up with an overhand right that landed with just under 40 seconds to go in the third round. Spark’s left hook backed up Gollaz barely 45 seconds into the third round.

Gollaz landed a jarring jab with about a minute remaining in the second round. Gollaz’s right-left combination connected about 30 seconds into the second round.

Spark caught Gollaz with a left hook and then a right hand within a 10-second span less than a minute into their fight.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.