by Francisco Salazar

Ontario, Calif. - Carlos Carlson found himself in unfamiliar territory on Friday night: On the canvas from a knockdown.

Carlson gathered himself to stop Alex Rangel in round three at the Doubletree Hotel in this suburb of Los Angeles.

Carlson improves to 21-1, 12 KOs, while Rangel drops to 17-6-2, 11 KOs.

The shorter Rangel came to fight, getting on the inside of Carlson's guard and scoring to the head and body. A right hand to the head dropped Carlson towards the end of the opening round.

The knockdown seemed to wake Carlson up, as he went on the attack in the second round, scoring with multiple right hands to the head. One of those right hands stunned Rangel to the head, slightly staggering him towards the end of the round.

Carlson ended matter in the third round, stunning Rangel again before putting him down on the canvas with a left hook to the head. Rangel stood up on wobbly legs, prompting referee Raul Caiz, Jr. to stop the fight at 1:00.

With the win, Carlson, who resides in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico won the vacant NABF bantamweight title.

Junior lightweight Erick Ituarte won a six round unanimous decision over Alberto Mora. Ituarte (15-1-1, 2 KOs) dropped Mora with a left hook to the head. Mora was able to score with an occasional right to the head, but was unable to match Ituarte's offense. All three judges scored the bout 60-53 in favor of Ituarte.

Junior welterweight Manuel Mendez stopped overmatched Erick Martinez in the fourth round. Mendez (12-1-2, 8 KOs), who is trained by Joel Diaz, battered Martinez from the opening bell, putting him on the defensive throughout most of the fight. After Mendez landed a barrage of punches midway through round four, referee Raul Caiz, Jr. saw enough and stopped the bout at 1:41.

Amateur standout and featherweight prospect Ruben Villa (2-0, 2 KOs) made short work of Cesar Guzman, stopping him in the opening round. The southpaw Villa, who beat Shakur Stevenson twice in the amateur ranks, dropped Mora with a right hook to the head. Mora (0-1 1 NC) seemed to favor his left leg when he got up, but was repeatedly tagged to the head by Villa. After Mora received a barrage of punches to the head, referee Thomas Taylor stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:31.

Junior bantamweight Danny Andujo won a four round unanimous decision over Cesar Guzman in the opening bout of the Thompson Boxing Promotions card. Both fighters stood in the pocket, trading hooks and crosses to the head. Guzman, who was making his pro debut, found success to the head, but began to fade in the second half of the fight. Andujo (2-0, 1 KO) dropped Guzman early in round four to solidify his win. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Andujo, 40-35, 39-36, and 39-37.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing