Rance Ward saw a weakness in his unbeaten foe and never took his foot off the gas in an upset win over Husam Al Mashhadi.

The 29-year-old journeyman from Houma, Louisiana applied heavy pressure to earn a majority decision victory in their six-round junior middleweight contest. One judge had the bout 57-57, overruled by well-earned scores of 58-56 and 59-55 for Ward in their ESPN+ streamed preliminary bout Saturday evening from Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.

Al Mashhadi vowed a better performance than was the case in his March 18 outing in his hometown of Dearborn Heights, Michigan. The 20-year-old southpaw claimed he was ill heading into that fight but did not show any signs of improvement versus the relentless Ward (8-5-1, 2KOs), who controlled the fight from the second round through the end of their bout to snatch the ‘0’ from his favored foe.

Toledo’s own Tyler McCreary edged Colombia’s Deivi Julio over six rounds in their junior lightweight contest. Judges Brian Kennedy (57-5), Tony Martin (59-54) and Ben Rochester (57-56) scored for McCreary. A second-round point deduction for excessive holding cost Julio (26-14, 16KOs) what would have been a majority draw. McCreary (18-2-1, 8KOs) claimed his second consecutive win after suffering back to back defeats.

The ESPN+ streamed open with a sizable upset as Puerto Rico’s Nicklauz Flaz outpointed Long Island, New York’s Jahi Tucker (10-1, 5KOs) over eight rounds. Judge Mike Fitzgerald (76-76) scored four rounds apiece, overruled by judges Tony Martin (78-74) and Robin Vargas (77-75) for Flaz (11-2, 7KOs) who bumped off his second straight unbeaten foe.

Flaz entered the fight having outpointed rising prospect Brian Ceballo last October and showed the same initiative in their junior middleweight bout on Saturday. The 19-year-old Tucker boxed well but could not put together complete rounds which ultimately cost him the fight and his previously unblemished record.

Headlining the main show, local hero and rising heavyweight contender Jared Anderson (14-0, 14KOs) meets former IBF heavyweight titlist Charles Martin (29-3-1, 26Kos) in a scheduled ten-round contest.

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