The 29-year-old lightweight contender produced the most significant win of his career, a 10-round unanimous points victory over former WBC featherweight champ Mark Magsayo at T-Mobile Arena.

Cortes’ right hand often enabled him to beat Magsayo to the punch and the Las Vegas native won comfortably, 97-93 apiece, on the cards of judges Eric Cheek, Chris Migliore and David Sutherland.

Cortes (26-0, 13 KOs) produced this win on a big stage, in the opening fight on The Ring and Zuffa Boxing card headlined by Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn.

“[I just stuck] to my game plan, which was box, pick him apart,” Cortes told The Ring’s Max Kellerman after his win. “I tried to walk him down and give the fans an exciting fight for this special day. But sometimes you get hit, so I resorted back to boxing.”

Magsayo (29-3, 19 KOs) occasionally connected with right hands as Cortes came forward, yet the Filipino contender wasn’t nearly effective enough fighting off his back foot.

Clearly down on the cards, Magsayo landed his most damaging punch of the fight, a left hook, that forced Cortes to reset his feet with just over 40 seconds to go in the ninth round. Cortes wasn’t hurt, though, and continued to box his way to a decisive victory.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission’s replay official earlier overturned a pair of knockdowns that referee Celestino Ruiz counted for Cortes in the third and fourth rounds.

Cortes recorded what was initially his second questionable knockdown in as many rounds with 53 seconds to go in the fourth. Magsayo fell to one knee as Cortes tried to land his right hand. Magsayo felt he was pushed, but Ruiz counted anyway, as Cortes’ lead on the cards temporarily widened.

Ruiz counted the first knockdown for Cortes with just over a minute remaining in the third because Magsayo’s right glove touched the canvas as a right hand to his body landed. Magsayo argued that he was pushed down and didn’t appear hurt once the action continued.