Luis Alberto Lopez was tested, but he came through on the scorecards to retain his IBF featherweight title for a second time against Joet Gonzalez in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Lopez came into this one having really grown into becoming world champion, which he achieved by taking a majority decision against Josh Warrington in Warrington’s Leeds back yard in December last year, and he defended at Michael Conlan’s Belfast fortress five months later, stopping the Irishman in five. Gonzalez had twice previously challenged for the WBO version of the world title, dropping decisions to Shakur Stevenson and Emanuel Navarrete.

Gonzalez (26-4, KO15) began brightly, working well off his jab in the opener, and came forward to good effect in the second frame. Lopez (29-2, KO16) warmed to his task, and landed with a solid right hand early in the third, but had to be on his mettle, as Gonzalez found a home for a spiteful uppercut a round later. The champion was evasive, and stunned his opponent in the sixth with a big left hook, and he seemed to shade the middle rounds with his movement. The championship rounds saw Lopez knock Gonzalez off balance with a right hand in round ten, and he connected with a five-punch salvo in the penultimate session, but he had to be on his guard as the challenger went for broke in a frantic final round.

It was a close contest, but the judges had it wider than expected, as Lopez retained his title by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.

On the undercard, Jamaine Ortiz (17-1-1, KO8) returned from defeat to Vasyl Lomachenko last time out, and he had some rocky moments before taking a points win against Antonio Moran (29-5-1, KO20) at lightweight. Ortiz was buzzed by a left hand in the second, and a body shot in the fifth, but nearly scored a knockout of his own in the same round. Eventually, Ortiz settled for a win by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.

Xander Zayas (17-0, KO11) impressed, as he defended his WBO NABO and NABF super welterweight baubles with a fifth round stoppage of Roberto Valenzuela Jr (21-5, KO20).

In eight round bouts, Ruben Villa (21-1, KO7) outscored Brandon Valdes (15-4, KO7) at featherweight by three identical scores of 78-74, and Delante Johnson (10-0, KO5) got past Ricardo Quiroz (13-3, KO7) via majority decision. One judge had the contest a 76-76 draw, but Johnson took the win with two tallies of 79-73. Julio Lina Avila (21-1-2, KO11) took an decision win in his welterweight encounter with Omar Alejandro Aguilar (25-2, KO14).

In six rounders, Emiliano Vargas (7-0, KO6) extended his unbeaten run, stopping Alejandro Guardado (5-1, KO1) in round three of their super lightweight meeting, and John Rincon (8-0, KO2) eased past Ismael Rodriguez (4-2-1, KO2) at welterweight, winning all six frames on two cards.