By Jake Donovan (photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank)

There was no "Thriller" in the house on this Halloween evening, as former lightweight titlist Julio "The Kidd" Diaz instead scared all of the drama out of his virtual shutout over Fernando Trejo in the main event at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Diaz set the tone early for how the fight would play. The former lightweight champion worked behind his jab, often following up with a straight right hand or a left uppercut. Trejo kept a safe distance to minimize the impact of Diaz' punches, though the strategy meant sacrificing his own offense, which for the most part was limited to throwing a short jab at a long target.

Trejo managed to close the gap between the two in the second round, working his way inside while attempting to work the body. Diaz adjusted, fighting off of his back foot and often flipping between southpaw and conventional stance. It was more of the same in the third, with Diaz sticking and moving while Trejo was unsuccessful in his efforts to cut off the ring.

Neither fighter landed much beyond their jabs in the fourth. Diaz began the round fighting out of the southpaw stance, which was effective from a defensive standpoint, but was unable to mount an offensive attack until he returned to fighting from the right side. Trejo simply had no answers on either side of the coin, rapidly approaching the point where any more rounds lost would immediately take his chances of victory off of the table.

The first significant punch of the fight came late in the fifth round. Diaz landed a flush left hook that drew a reaction from the sparse crowd on hand, most of whom had to be wondering at that point why they weren't instead out trick-or-treating. Trejo tried to respond with firepower of his own, but missed three straight head shots, leaving himself wide open for another left hook upstairs just before the bell.

Hopes for the brief power spurt to spill over in the sixth round were quickly dashed when Diaz returned to the southpaw stance, which resulted in a lot of missing on Trejo's part. A flush left by Diaz late in the round appeared to produce a nick over Trejo's eye, but referee Tony Gibson ruled that it was the result of the inside of Diaz' glove raking across his opponent's face.

Sensing he was past the point of no return, Trejo picked up the pace considerably in the seventh. His aggressiveness left him wide open for counters upstairs, with Diaz repeatedly landing one-twos. But Trejo got in licks of his own, opening a cut over Diaz' left eye.

Perhaps the sight of his own blood spooked Diaz a bit, as he spent nearly the entire eighth round fighting in reverse. He occasionally planted his feet long enough to land an uppercut here, and a combination upstairs, but would shy away the moment Trejo threatened to land. 

Fans were treated to a spirited toe-to-toe exchange at rounds end, even if very few punches managed to find their mark. The moment served its purpose, as it briefly spilled over into the ninth. It didn't last long, though; Diaz found comfort on the outside and fighting behind his right jab. Trejo constantly inched closer, and finally let his hands toward the end of the round, but as was the result every other time he opened up, Diaz would nail him with counter shots.

Perhaps feeling they owed the fans at least a parting shot, both fighters let their hands go for much of the tenth and final round. Trejo fought like a man who knew he was way down on the cards, but offered nothing that Diaz didn't immediately trump. Diaz could've easily played keep away for the entire round, but stood his ground and was able to land in combination upstairs, including a one-two just before the bell.

Scoring was academic by night's end, though Trejo surprisingly managed to win one round on two of the three scorecards. Scores of 99-91 (twice) and 100-90 were announced, easily in favor of Diaz, who improves to 35-4 (26KO) with the win. It's his second straight victory since his disappointing showing in last year's lightweight alphabet unification match with Juan Diaz.

The downward spiral continues for Trejo, who has now lost three in a row as he falls to 30-15-4 (18KO) overall.

Promising featherweight prospect Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia kept his unbeaten record intact with a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Walter Estrada in the televised co-feature.

The bout began as smooth sailing for the 20-year old Garcia, who forced a fast pace in sweeping the first three rounds. His mettle was tested in the fourth round, when Estrada connected with a long left hand to floor the Oxnard native for the first time in his career.

Garcia recovered, and also withstood several head butts throughout the fight, but would need another round or so before regaining control. Another clash of heads nearly threatened a stoppage in the seventh when Estrada was left with a bad cut over his left eye, but onward they fought, remaining in each other's face until the final bell.

The knockdown made the final score a tad closer than the action would've suggested. Scores of 77-74 and 76-75 (twice) all were in favor of Garcia, who improves to 15-0 (12KO) while training under the watchful eye of father Eduardo and older brother, former junior lightweight champion Roberto "Grandpa" Garcia.

Estrada was valiant in defeat, but still loses for the third time in his last four fights. The well-traveled Colombian southpaw dips to 34-7 (23KO) overall.

Both bouts aired live on Telefutura and were presented by Top Rank Inc.

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .