Alan Chaves proved he was worth the hype surrounding him. He scored a vicious third-round knockout of Miguel Madueno that could be in the running for Knockout of the Year by year’s end in the co-main event of Jarrell Miller vs. Lenier Pero on Saturday at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

The victory was everything the Argentine southpaw envisioned.

“It was what I always dreamed of,” Chaves said through a translator as he held back tears during his post-fight interview. “It was exactly how I always dreamed in my life that it would happen. I’m just so emotional now. I’m just thinking about all my family back home in Argentina celebrating this moment. I'm so delighted. It was exactly the way that I dreamed of this happening since I was a kid.”

Chaves (22-0, 19 KOs) entered the bout ranked No. 2 by the WBO, No. 6 by the IBF and No. 13 by the WBC but had never fought outside of his home country. Madueno (31-5, 28 KOs), of Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, was coming off a year-plus layoff and back-to-back losses, although they came against WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis and highly regarded Oscar Duarte.

It didn’t take long for Chaves to get Madueno’s attention, as he rocked him with a straight left hand in the opening round. That set the tone, as Chaves continued to connect with power shots to the head and body as Madueno struggled to get into the fight.

As the third round neared the midway point, Madueno walked into range to throw a left uppercut. Chaves took a slight step back and threw a left hand that connected directly on Madueno’s chin and sent him to the canvas in a heap.

“It was what we practiced in the gym,” Chaves said. “We worked on that in the gym, and I knew from when he launched his first attack, the way that I could get in there. I was touching him up. I hit him with a left hook, and then I was changing the levels, and I knew that I was able to connect with that final shot.”

Chaves has won four consecutive fights by knockout. He promised that his latest victory was a sign of things to come at lightweight.

“This moment comes at a perfect time for me,” Chaves said. “This dream that I had to be here on this stage right now, it's just come at exactly the right time. I feel I'm going into my best moment at the moment, to my peak. I'm ready to face any fighter. So put any fighter in front of me and I'll knock him out.”