Jorge Linares snapped a two-fight losing streak, and Japanese welterweight Yoshihiro Kamegai battled to a hard-fought draw with Mexican youngster Jorge Silva at tonight's Fox Sports-televised show from Sacramento, California.

In the TV opener, Linares (32-3, 20 KO) won a ten-round decision against his veteran foe on scores of 100-89, 98-91, and 97-91. The talented Venezuelan had suffered back-to-back losses to Antonio DeMarco and Sergio Thompson in stunning fashion, stopped in both bouts, but tonight got the "get-well" win against an opponent he was specifically designed to beat, and his march down the comeback trail is officially on.

What I saw of the fight, Linares looked good but far from totally recovered, and that seemed to be the general perception -- also, that Velazquez (52-18-3, 35 KO) put up a better fight than the scores indicated. Linares definitely still has steps on the ladder to climb to truly get back into contention, but the talent has always been there in spades. It's all about his punch resistance and, at this point, probably his confidence, too.

In the night's main event, Kamegai lost his spotless record in a majority draw against Silva, an unheralded replacement opponent, 20 years old out of Mexico. Scores were 95-95, 95-95, and 96-94 for Kamegai. I have not seen the fight yet, but I caught the final round and both guys looked worn right out, like they'd been through a hell of a struggle. I haven't seen anyone say the draw was unfair, really, but a few have said they felt Kamegai deserved a close win.

It was, overall, a hell of night for the sport of boxing. Maybe these weren't the big fights that turned heads, but between the reports of Kamegai-Silva, the war between Vazquez Jr and Oquendo, and the heavy action of Porpramook-Hernandez II, I'd say those who tuned in got their reasons to keep being diehard fans.