LAS VEGAS -- Clifford Etienne remained undefeated by beating Lawrence Clay-Bey the old-fashioned way -- he simply outworked him.

	Clifford Etienne, left, rocked Lawrence Clay-Bey to remain unbeaten as a professional.

A battle of undefeated heavyweights turned into a unanimous 10-round decision Saturday night for Etienne, who applied relentless pressure to score points and hand Clay-Bey his first professional loss.

It wasn't that easy, though, with Clay-Bey rocking Etienne when he chose to fight and landing the heavier punches of the contest. But Clay-Bey spent much of the fight covering up on the ropes, and Etienne landed punch after punch to his head to pile up points.

"This was my toughest fight yet," said Etienne, who improved to 19-0 with 13 knockouts. "He's got a lot of experience."

Etienne, 220, of Baton Rouge, La., fought almost non-stop, backing Clay-Bey onto the ropes, where he chose to cover up and occasionally throw flurries.

The fight was on the undercard of the Lennox Lewis-David Tua heavyweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.

Clay-Bey, 235, landed well when he threw punches, but only fought in a few flurries of action during each round.

"I felt good and strong. I just didn't let my hands go," said Clay-Bey, who fell to 12-1 with 12 knockouts. "I'm not worried about it. It could have been a lack of confidence on my part."

Compubox statistics showed Etienne landing almost 100 more punches, 283 to 188 for Clay-Bey.

Etienne won 98-92 on one scorecard, 97-93 on a second and 99-91 on a third.

In another 10-round fight, former two-time IBF junior lightweight champion John-John Molina pounded out a split decision over Ben Tackie of Ghana.

Molina (52-6) threw punches from all angles from the opening bell, though he never seemed to hurt Tackie and never knocked him down. Tackie (21-2) spent much of the fight trying to land a big punch of his own, but was simply outboxed by the 35-year-old Molina, 139¼.

Tackie, 139, was favored 96-94 on one scorecard, while the other two judges had Molina winning, 97-93.

Former WBC super featherweight champion Jesse James Leija also won a 10-round decision, beating Ivan Robinson of Philadelphia.

Robinson fought well early, but Leija, of San Antonio, wore him down and dominated the late rounds. Leija knocked Robinson down in the eighth round, but Robinson got up and the bell rang to end the round.

Leija, 137, improved to 41-5-2, while Robinson, 136{, fell to 29-5-1.