By Keith Idec

CARSON, California – In the final fight before HBO’s broadcast began, unbeaten Ryan Martin out-boxed onetime contender Breidis Prescott to win by unanimous decision in an eight-round super lightweight bout.

Martin scored a knockdown during the fifth round and won comfortably on each of the three scorecards (79-71, 79-71, 77-73).

Cleveland’s Martin, 25, improved to 22-0 (12 KOs). Colombia’s Prescott, 35, lost for the fifth time in his past six fights and slipped to 31-13 (22 KOs).

Martin dropped Prescott with a body shot during the fifth round. Prescott went down from body shots twice during the fourth round, but Cantu ruled that Prescott went down from low blows in both instances.

Martin argued that those shots were above Prescott’s belt, but he wasn’t credited for a knockdown during the fourth round.

Martin fell to the canvas just before the seventh round ended, but Cantu ruled that he slipped.

Later Saturday night, welterweight prospect Ruslan Madiev beat Jesus Perez by unanimous decision in a reasonably competitive 10-round bout.

Kazakhstan’s Madiev (12-0, 5 KOs) – who’s guided by Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez – won by scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 97-93. 

After landing numerous power punches during the first eight rounds, Madiev finally hurt Perez (21-1, 16 KOs) with a straight right hand to the middle of his face late in the ninth round. Madiev followed up with several more right hands and twice knocked Perez into the ropes, but he couldn’t drop Perez before the ninth round ended.

Perez began the 10th round on steady legs and made those three minutes competitive.

In the second non-televised bout, welterweight prospect Brian Ceballo beat Nam Phan by unanimous decision in a four-rounder.

Brooklyn’s Ceballo (2-0, 1 KOs) used his jab and occasionally landed right hands to record a shutout on all three scorecards (40-36). Pham, of Garden Grove, California, lost his fifth straight fight (3-6-1, 2 KOs).

Featherweight prospect Jesse Rodriguez remained unbeaten by knocking out journeyman Armando Vazquez in the third round Saturday on the Gennady Golovkin-Vanes Martirosyan undercard at StubHub Center.

Los Angeles’ Rodriguez (6-0, 4 KOs) dropped Mexico’s Vazquez with a straight left late in the third round. Vazquez (25-22-1, 6 KOs) went down to his gloves and knees, and couldn’t get up before referee Jerry Cantu reached the count of 10.

The time of the stoppage was 2:18 of the third round. Rodriguez’s defeat in their scheduled six-rounder extended his losing streak to six bouts.