In the opening bout of the Matchroom Boxing card, junior featherweight contender Murodjon Akhmadaliev battered Carlos Carlson before the fight was stopped in round three.

Akhmadaliev (6-0, 5 knockouts), who signed a co-promotional deal with Matchroom earlier this week, dominated Carlson, a former world bantamweight title challenger. Akhmadeliev broke Carlson down until the Tijuana, Mexico resident went down near the end of the third round. Referee Jerry Cantu immediately stopped the bout at 2:51.

24-year-old Akhmadaliev, who is co-managed by Vadim Kornilov and Alik Frolov, is the mandatory challenger to the WBA junior featherweight title. He is trained by Joel Diaz.

Carlson drops to 23-6, 14 KOs.