Robert ‘Biggie’ Rodriguez went more rounds—all six in fact—than was the case in the combined total of his previous two fights.

It also resulted in the first loss of his young career.

The unbeaten bantamweight prospect from San Antonio was given all that he could handle and then some as Luis Fernando Saavedra walked away with a well-earned six-round decision win. Judges Dave Moretti (60-54), Ricardo Ocasio (60-54) and Patricia Morse Jarman (59-55) all scored in favor of Mexico’s Saavedra in their entertaining battle of southpaws Saturday evening on ESPN+ from The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

Saavedra let it be known from the opening bell that it was going to be a long night for Rodriguez, who scored a first-round knockout and second-round knockout in two post-pandemic appearances in the Top Rank Bubble last summer. The aggressive southpaw from San Luis Postol, Mexico worked the body early and often, landing left hands downstairs to the point of reddening the arms and sides of Rodriguez who did his best to defend against the tactic.

Rodriguez struggled to find an offensive rhythm, coming forward but also left to defend against incoming right hooks from Saavedra. A momentum shift came in round four, as Rodriguez was able to corner Saavedra and force him to fight in reverse. Rodriguez connected with a left hand with less than a minute to go in the round, snapping back his opponent’s head for his most effective sequence of the fight to that point.

It still wasn’t enough, as head trainer Robert Garcia told Rodriguez that he needed a knockout to win. The advice didn’t quite take, as anything that Rodriguez had to offer in round five was immediately countered by Saavedra. Rodriguez (9-1-1, 5KOs) looked to pick up the pace in the sixth and final round, only to default to earlier form and fight in spurts. Saavedra exploited his opponent’s hesitance, riding out combinations to connect with clean shots upstairs. Saavedra (9-6, 3KOs) never pardoned the body, continuing to throw punches at any available target in preserving the upset for his second consecutive win.

Subaru Murata didn’t need long to lodge the first win of his career.

Japan’s Murata (1-0, 1KO)—a stablemate of Masayoshi Nakatani (19-1, 13KOs), who faces Vasiliy Lomachenko in the main event—enjoyed a successful pro debut with a second-round stoppage of Stockton, California’s Keven Monroy in their junior featherweight clash.

Murata—no relation to WBA middleweight titlist Ryota Murata, though both fight for Teiken Promotions—served as the aggressor in the battle of southpaws, though Monroy (1-2, 1KO) came to fight. It worked to the detriment of the American boxer, who was floored hard by a left hand midway through round two. The manner in which he hit the canvas was of concern to referee Russell Mora, who immediately waved off the contest.

The official time was 1:42 of round two, though to the dismay of Monroy who cursed out and pushed Mora in protest.

DeMichael Harris had to go a little deeper to preserve his perfect knockout to win ratio.

The unbeaten prospect from Cleveland was extended beyond the second round for the first time as a pro, though able to handle Argentina’s Jonatan Hernan Godoy. Harris forced a stoppage at 3:00 of round three in their lightweight contest.

Harris took his time, a change of pace from his quick outings in each of his three pro bouts heading into the night. boxed smartly in the early rounds, while Godoy did his best to make things as uncomfortable as possible for the young prospect.

Things took a drastic turn in round three, when Harris sent Godoy to the canvas three times in the round. All came courtesy of right hands. The first was set up by a body shot, though with Godoy afforded a few extra seconds after Harris drifted from his neutral corner.

The fight-ending sequence saw Harris (4-0, 4KOs) connect with a right hand to send Godoy (5-9, 0KOs) to a knee. Godoy made it to his feet and to the bell, though Mora had seen enough by that point and opted to stop the bout.

Floyd ‘Cashflow’ Diaz improved to 2-0 (0KOs) following a four-round shutout of Jaime Jasso (2-1, 0KOs) of Laredo, Texas. Scores were 40-36 on all three scorecards in favor of Diaz, an 18-year-old former amateur standout long aligned with Hall of Fame former five-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The bout went similar to that of Diaz’s pro debut, when he also won every round in a four-round unanimous decision victory of Fernando Macias this past February 13 at MGM Grand Conference Center.

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