Pero, 11-0 (8 KOs), a 2020 Cuban Olympian, has been touted as a potential future heavyweight champion, and after two rounds against Mexico’s Navarro, 13-3 (11 KOs), he appeared on the verge of another comfortable stoppage to add to his collection. Navarro, bobbing and weaving and stalking forward, had brought the fight to Pero in the first, but the Cuban had responded forcefully in the second, landing 42 of an incredible 138 punches and leaving Navarro already looking the worse for wear.

Then, suddenly, early in the third, Navarro uncorked a perfect right hand that exploded on Pero’s jaw. Pero’s body went limp as he crashed to the canvas, seemingly for the count; he hauled himself to his feet by eight but was immediately assaulted again by Navarro, who put him down a second time with a barrage of blows.

There were still more than 2 minutes remaining in the round for Navarro to land the clean shot that would surely have ended the night for Pero; but, despite his best efforts, he could not quite find it. Just like that, his chance had come and gone.

Indeed, as Pero slowly recovered and renewed his energy supplies in the fourth round, it was he who suddenly once more looked the most likely to score a stoppage, as Navarro appeared utterly spent from his Herculean efforts in the third.

But, whether gun-shy or still feeling the effects of the knockdowns, Pero was reluctant to open up in search of a knockout. Better instead, he and trainer Bob Santos determined, to dial back the offense, maintain solid defensive form and chip away at Navarro, landing clean shot after clean shot without stepping into the punches for maximum effect.

By the seventh and eighth frames, after several rounds of a recovered Pero landing potshots on a wilting Navarro, the fight threatened to enter that uncomfortable zone in which one man takes too many punches for comfort but the other can’t quite make a convincing enough case for a referee intervention.

In the event, a valiant Navarro found enough reserves from somewhere to show some life in the ninth and 10th rounds, although not enough to prevent the scorecards being filled out unanimously, 96-92, for Pero.

For Pero, this was the kind of tough win that will do him more good than any number of strolls in the park. And while Navarro may not quite have pulled off the upset, he earned respect and almost certainly another lucrative payday.

In the co-main event, lightweight Corey Marksman was true to his name, staying unbeaten with an impressive seventh-round stoppage of Tayden Beltran.

Marksman, 11-0-1 (8 KOs), fighting in front of a hometown crowd, showed excellent accuracy and timing throughout, happy to lure the aggressive Beltran onto counters but also to step forward and back him up when the opportunity presented itself.

Beltran, 10-1-1 (5 KOs), was a constant blizzard of nervous energy, bouncing on his toes and showing busy upper body movement, but he marched forward in straight lines and frequently over-committed with his punches, enabling Marksman to shift his hips, adjust angles and fire fast combinations.

Marksman backed Beltran to the ropes for a spell in every round, but each time Beltran showed enough movement to limit the number of clean punches Marksman landed and threw enough punches in response to keep Marksman honest. By the sixth round, however, the accuracy and power of Marksman’s assault had increased and referee Chris Young took a close look as Marksman rattled Beltran’s head repeatedly, at one point landing four straight left hooks cleanly with his man against the ropes.

Beltran survived that round, but another assault in the seventh prompted his corner to signal to Young to stop the contest, which he did at 2 minutes, 41 seconds of the round.

In other action, Kaipo Gallegos forced Pedro Castaneda to stay on his stool after five of a scheduled eight lightweight rounds. Although the two men entered the ring with almost identical records, Gallegos, 9-0-1 (7 KOs), proved himself on a different level, standing just outside the pocket and peppering Castaneda, 8-1-1 (5 KOs), with rapid-fire straight combinations.

CompuBox figures underlined the extent of Gallegos’ domination. He landed 99 of 279 punches through five rounds against just 19 of 141 for Castaneda. 

In the opening bout of the main card, streamed live on DAZN, Nat “No Love” Dove, 5-0-1 (1 KO), and Nayeli Rodriguez, 4-0-1, fought to a unanimous draw over four three-minute rounds in the junior bantamweight division. While neither boxer was happy with the decision, it felt on the money, Dove's more aggressive style largely neutralized by the classic boxing from range of Rodriguez.

Both fighters expressed an interest in fighting a rematch on the all-female undercard of Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano III at Madison Square Garden on July 11.

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.