The previously unproven Australian gave the former WBA super middleweight champ everything he could handle during their fan-friendly, back-and-forth fight at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Resendiz’s resume helped make him at least a 12-1 favorite, according to most sportsbooks, but their 10-round super middleweight match was far from one-sided.

Judges Eric Cheek (98-92), Max De Luca (97-93) and Don Trella (97-93) scored their fight for Resendiz (17-3, 11 KOs). Mazoudier nevertheless gave a commendable account of himself against a more accomplished opponent who was more accustomed to competing in the 168-pound division.

“It was a tough fight, but listen, we pulled it off because we had great preparation,” Resendiz told DAZN announcers Chris Mannix and Sergio Mora in the ring. “But I expected a tough fight. … Ultimately, I had to change my game plan and my strategy. I had to box and move a little bit, because this was a very tough fight.”

The courageous, gritty Mazoudier made their bout very competitive in its second half, when he landed a variety of right hands and forced the harder puncher to fight off of his back foot at times. The 31-year-old Mazoudier (16-5-1, 6 KOs) was stopped by Nikita Tszyu in the ninth round of a junior middleweight bout in August 2024, but he took Resendiz’s flushest shots and got the heavily favored fighter’s attention with head and body shots in each of the final five rounds.

Resendiz seemed exhausted in the last two rounds, which made sense since he took this fight on only 2½ weeks’ notice. He absorbed a lot of hard shots in the final round, but he landed a five-punch combination that made Mazoudier stumble backward with 25 seconds to go in their fight.

Mazoudier still made it to the final bell in a fight that was elevated to the co-feature on the Sebastian Fundora-Ermal Hadribeaj undercard Saturday morning.

Brandon Figueroa was scheduled to defend the WBA featherweight title against Japanese contender Tomoki Kameda in the co-feature. A day after he failed to make weight and gave up his 126-pound crown, however, Figueroa withdrew from their 12-round, 126-pound championship match because he felt ill.

Resendiz, 27, fought for the first time since Jaime Munguia beat him by unanimous decision May 2 at nearby T-Mobile Arena and took the WBA super middleweight title from him.

The native of Guayabitos, Mexico took this fight once Mazoudier’s original opponent, Jermall Charlo, suffered an undisclosed injury late in training camp.

Mazoudier was originally scheduled to face Charlo on July 26 in Sydney, Australia. Their fight was removed from the Tim Tszyu-Errol Spence Jr. undercard because a visa issue prevented Charlo from entering Australia and was rescheduled for Saturday night.

Heavy-handed middleweight prospect Marco Romero needed only one minute and 54 seconds to end the bout before Resendiz’s victory.

The 20-year-old knockout artist from Olathe, Kansas, caught Uruguay’s Braulio Ferreira with a picturesque right hand. That shot sent Ferreira to the seat of his trunks. He beat referee Tony Weeks’ count, but Weeks wouldn’t allow him to continue after taking that punishing punch.

Romero improved to 16-0, recorded his 14th knockout and stopped a third straight opponent in the first round. Ferreira (8-4, 3 KOs) lost by knockout for the second time in seven years as a pro.