Elijah Garcia, 19, survives spirited effort from Kevin Salgado to win decision

Nineteen-year-old middleweight contender Elijah Garcia survived a slow start to defeat Kevin Salgado by a unanimous decision in a 10-round bout on the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia card Saturday in Las Vegas.

The official scores were 97-92, 97-92 and 95-94. Boxing Junkie scored it 96-93, six rounds to four.

Salgado (15-2-1, 10 KOs) got off to a strong start, outworking a relatively inactive Garcia (15-0, 12 KOs) in the first three rounds, mostly with hard, accurate body shots.

However, Garcia began pick up his pace in Round 4 and controlled the rest of the fight to pull away on the cards.

The southpaw did it both from outside, following his jab with stinging straight lefts. And he also did on the inside, landing quick two-, three-punch combinations.

Salgado lost a point in Round 7 because of repeated low blows but that factor into the decision.

Garcia, who turned 20 on Wednesday, was taking part in his second scheduled 10-rounder. And it was the first time he fought beyond the sixth round.

Story originally appeared on Boxing Junkie