SAN ANTONIO – Thomas Mattice kept his word and snatched another ‘0’.

It came in the form of an unpopular tenth-round stoppage of Mexico’s Ramiro Cesena in a junior lightweight fight that featured several lulls before catching fire in the final round. Cesena was pinned against the ropes and didn’t throw back as Mattice went on the attack, forcing a halt to the contest at 1:35 of the tenth round in the opening bout of DAZN’s four-fight main card Saturday evening from Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas.

Judges Lisa Giampa (89-81), Dave Morreti (86-84) and Roberto Torres (86-84) all ahead Cesena ahead at the time of the stoppage, which drew a round of boos from the crowd.

Both fighters were tentative in the opening round after threatening throughout fight week to steal the show. Cesena—a Baja California, Mexico native making his pro debut—landed the most significant punch of the round, a right hand through the guard of Cleveland’s Mattice who was extremely selective with his punch output.

Mattice sought to establish his jab in round two. He enjoyed moments of success but struggled to deal with the aggressive style of Cesena, who picked up the pace in round three with body shots and right hands upstairs.

Cesena stuck out his tongue and dared Mattice to follow up after tasting a right hand from the American in round four. The unbeaten Mexican prospect responded with a flurry of body shots as he forced Mattice into the ropes shortly before the bell.

Cesena connected with a right hand upstairs but was warned for pushing early in round five. Mattice immediately responded by using his forearms to drive Cesena into a corner and lean in with his upper body. The tactics drew the ire of referee Rafael Ramos who escorted both fighters to center ring and issued a stern two-way warning to keep it clean. Mattice let his hands go for the first time in the fight, though Cesena refused to unravel.

Action slowed in the second half of the fight. Cesena briefly employed a hit-and-grab approach in round six while Mattice went large stretches without landing anything of substance.

A battle of the jabs took place at center ring for much of round seven. Cesena doubled and tripled up on his stick though often missing the mark. Mattice worked in his right hand later in the round, while Cesena looked to respond in kind.

Mattice played defense for much of round eight but wound up losing a point on the one occasion he let his hands go. Cesena stopped punching to point at what he insisted was a slick spot on the canvas. Mattice chose to protect himself at all times in the absence of a physical break and let rip a right hand. Ramos was very slow to get between them but quick to march Mattice around the ring and instruct the judges to deduct a point from his score total.

Fans grew restless over a slow-moving round nine which saw lots of movement and posing but little in the way of sustained action. Mattice changed that in an instant in the tenth and final round, though producing an ending that did not sit well with the pro-Mexican crowd.

A right hand by Mattice snapped back the head of Cesena. Mattice went on the attack, repeatedly rocking Cesena to the point of forcing him to cover up along the ropes. Cesena was not throwing back any punches as Mattice continued to let his hands go, and briefly pitched over to his left. Ramos jumped in to stop the contest, with the action immediately protested by Cesena (16-1-3, 13KOs) but to no avail.

Mattice advances to 21-1-3 (16KOs), having now defeated his second straight unbeaten opponent and fourth overall.

The evening’s headliner pits local hero Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (17-0, 11KOs) and Mexico’s Cristian Gonzalez (15-1, 6KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout with the vacant WBO flyweight title at stake.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox