Juan Manuel Lopez retained his WBO light-featherweight title in dramatic style as he withstood a late onslaught from Roger Mtagwa in an epic 12-round brawl at Madison Square Garden.

Puerto Rico's Lopez scored a unanimous decision victory to maintain his unbeaten record and move to 27-0 (24 KOs), having knocked down Tanzanian-born Mtagwa early in the fight and then managed to stay on his feet as the challenger bombarded him with punches over the last two rounds.

Lopez had appeared out on his feet during the last round as Mtagwa followed him around the ring, punching with abandon but seemingly too tired to send his man down to the canvas.

Earlier, Miami-based Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa successfully defended his WBA featherweight crown with a fourth-round knockout of Panama's Whyber Garcia to stretch his unbeaten record to 16-0 (14 KOs).

Fighting on the undercard, Northern Ireland's John Duddy returned to winning ways with a unanimous points win in an eight-round bout against Mexican Jorge 'Michi' Munoz.

The win for Duddy followed a first professional defeat in April in a split-decision verdict to American Billy Lyell and the middleweight advanced his record to 27-1 (17 KOs).