By Victor Salazar

The Chelsea, Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, Nevada - Victor Pasillas (10-0, 3 KO’s) defeated Marcelo Gallardo (5-2, 2 KO’s) by unanimous decision. The bout was the swing bout on the Beltran-Ao Card on TruTV. All three judges has the same card of 40-36, Pasillas dominated every round and the scorecards showed the outcome. With the decision, Casillas remains undefeated while Gallardo drops his second loss as a pro.

Failing to make the lightweight limit, Ray Beltran’s chance to become a world title was lost on the scales. Beltran (30-7-1 17 KO’s) still had a fight to fight against Takahiro Ao (27-4-1, 12 KO’s) as the main event of the debut Top Rank boxing series on TruTV. He dismantled and destroyed his Japanese foe in quick succession. Beltran looked focused from the onset and brought the fight to Ao, hurting Ao from the onset backing him to the ropes.

It looked like Beltran was made about not making weight and it was Ao that was going to pay for it. Beltran imposed his physical strength and Ao had no answers. Beltran dropped Ao with a big right cross. Though Ao got up, he would not recover. Beltran pounced on Ao shooting combinations and forcing Ao to the ropes. On multiple occasions, Ao was in trouble and finally it was a culmination of three right hands with one snapping Ao’s head all the way back that made referee Tony Weeks step in.

Beltran has been hard-pressed with luck. Beltran traveled to the United Kingdom and lost a controversial decision to Ricky Burns. He was supposed to be a world champ then. He fought for the same title against Terence Crawford but was dominated by a superior fighter.

This was his other crack at a world title. While he destroyed Ao, he unfortunately was .4 lbs over from being a world champion. But that did not stop Ray Beltran from doing damage and making Ao pay for his frustrations.

With the victory Beltran notches his 30th win and 18th by knockout. Ao drops only his 4th fight as a pro.

In the opening bout of the first TruTV Top Rank Series, Konstantin Ponomarev (28-0,13 KO’s) upset Mikael Zewski (26-1, 20 KO’s) by beating the prospect via unanimous decision. The scores were 99-91, 97-93, 98-92.

Ponomarev was a live dog from the start. In the early rounds, Ponomarev worked behind the jab and landed body shots. Zewski took the shots and remained in the pocket. Zewski got hit behind the head in the second round that forced him to the canvas. The referee ruled it a slip. But early on it was all mostly Ponomarev backing up Zewski. Ponomarev landed a 3 punch combination that shook Zewski to put an exclamation point in the round.

The 4th round saw Zewski attempting to move forward. The attempt failed as Ponomarev continued to do work with the jab and shots to the body.

Ponomarev hurt Zewski with a two punch combination in the 5th. With his face swelling up, Zewski landed a big lead left hook to end the round. The two exchanged massive punches in the 6. Zewski caught Ponomarev with a big lead overhand right that sent him to the ropes but Ponomarev would not budge.

Ponomarev was in control throughout the rest of the fight. Zewski made an attempt to let it all out in the 10th but Ponomarev was up to the task by taking Zewski’s ounches and returning the fire. For Zewski it was too little too late as his performance in the last round was equaled by Ponomarev who came up with the upset victory.

Alfonso Olivero (3-1, 1 KO) notches his 3rd victory of his career as he defeated Abraham Lopez(0-1) who was making his pro debut. Olvera won the 4 round affair behind good a good jab and body work. The 4 round affair delivered some action but in the end Olivero did enough to walk away with a majority decisions. The scores were 38-38, 39-37, and 40-36,

Egor Mekhontsev (9-0, 7 KO’s) defeated Hakim Zoulikha (21-6, 10 KO’s) by unanimous decision. The fight was a one sided affair that saw Mekhontsev win all the rounds on all three of the judge’s scorecards. With the victory Mekhontsev improves to 9-0 while the Frenchmen Zoulika suffers his 6th defeat.