Last night saw some decent action around the globe, the most important of which occurred on the Maskaev - Rahman undercard in Las Vegas. That bill saw two important contests, chiefly a WBC Lightweight eliminator between Jose Armando Santa Cruz and David Diaz. Santa Cruz led the whole way, pitching a shutout behind his high volume attack but was caught flush by a Diaz counter in the tenth and dropped twice before the proceedings were called off at 2:20 of the round. Diaz, 32-1-1 (17), moves into the WBC mandatory slot for that organization's lightweight champion, Diego Corrales. Santa Cruz falls to 23-2 (13).

The second high level bout on the card featured one of Mexico's best kept secrets, Humberto Soto, 40-5-2 (24), who won a WBC Super Featherweight title eliminator by stopping the heavy handed Ivan Valle, 25-5-1 (21), in the fourth.

In Marksville, Louisiana, ex-WBA Featherweight Champion Derrick Gainer, 40-7-1 (24), began his comeback by barely sqeeking out a win over seasoned journeyman Phillip Payne, 16-20-1 (8). Gainer took the minor IBA Americas Lightweight belt by a split decision that proved unpopular to fans in attendence.

In Russellville, Arkansas, former heavyweight contender Joe Mesi won his third bout in a row since resuming his career, interrupted due to a medical test after a punishing victory over Vassiliy Jirov two years ago. Mesi, 32-0 (26), stopped the woefully overmatched 39 year old Dennis Matthews, 9-28 (6), in two rounds.

Buenos Aires, Argentina saw Marcela Eliana "La Tigresa" Acuna, 20-5 (12), win every round over oppponent Anays Cecilia Gutierrez Carrillo, 9-2-1 (2), and take the inagural WBA Female Super Bantamweight title.

Click to read more boxing articles by Curtis McCormick

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