Ardreal Holmes took one more step toward a junior middleweight title shot Thursday night.

The undefeated southpaw from Flint, Michigan out-boxed Edwine Jimenez and won a 10-round unanimous decision that secured his spot in an IBF elimination match with Erickson Lubin. Holmes was workmanlike in dealing the Haitian-born, Massachusetts-based Jimenez his first professional defeat in the main event of a card DAZN streamed from Dort Financial Center in Flint.

Judges Patrick Schmidt, Gerard White and Cornelius Stevenson scored seven rounds apiece for Holmes, who won 97-93 on each of their cards.

“It was a kinda difficult,” Holmes told DAZN’s Al Bernstein of his bout with Jimenez. “They kept switching opponents. Nobody wanted to fight. You know, it was just kinda awkward. Then, I was preparing to fight like a shorter guy. The dude was almost 6 foot. So, it was just a little awkward. But, you know, every test get us to the next level, so we ready for what’s next. … I just feel like every time we gettin’ in here we gettin’ better. So, when we get Lubin, we gonna get better, that much better. So, just be prepared to be surprised. You know, fittin’ to shock the world.”

Now that Holmes (17-0, 6 KOs) has beaten Jimenez (9-1, 7 KOs), his promoter, Dmitriy Salita can work with Lubin’s promoter, Tom Brown, to arrange a 12-round elimination match that will identify the mandatory challenger for IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs).

Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs), of Orlando, Florida, is the IBF’s No. 3 junior middleweight contender. Holmes is rated seventh by the IBF in the 154-pound division.

The Lubin-Holmes winner will move into the unoccupied top spot in the IBF’s ratings. Neither Lubin nor Holmes are ranked in the top 10 by The Ring at junior middleweight.

Lubin, 29, is much more proven and experienced than Jimenez, but Jimenez made Holmes work during what was an unremarkable but competitive main event DAZN streamed worldwide.

They provided some of the most entertaining moments in their fight during its final minute.

Holmes, whose height and reach served him well when he boxed from a distance, nailed Jimenez with a right hook up top and quickly added a left hand when there were approximately 45 seconds left in the bout. Jimenez wasn’t too affected by those shots.

Holmes later caught him with another right hook several seconds prior to the end of their fight. Jimenez came forward regularly, yet he never hurt Holmes, either.