LAS VEGAS — Darius Fulghum and Bektemir Melikuziev left it all in the ring in their high-stakes WBA super middleweight title eliminator on Friday, and the latter did just enough to win a thrilling seesaw battle by unanimous decision.

Judges scored the contest 114-112 across the board, and the tight fight featured a 12th-round knockdown of Fulghum. Even the punch stats were razor close in a matchup that had several momentum swings. According to CompuBox, Melikuziev landed 170 of 442 punches and Fulghum landed 169 of 407.

The fight headlined a Golden Boy show on DAZN, as the promoter pitted its top 168-pounders against each other to see who they can push further to perhaps land a fight against undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez.

Melikuziev (16-1, 10 KOs) lived up to his nickname of being the bully by pouncing and prowling, but the four-year pro Fulghum (14-1, 12 KOs) quickly proved he wouldn't be easy prey.

After a reserved first round, Melikuziev opened up and unleashed several hard left hands in the corner, capped by a thudding body shot to boot.

The southpaw Uzbek Melikuziev, a 2016 Olympics silver medalist, carried the momentum in the third and rocked Fulghum around the ring, excellently cutting off the squared circle with his fleet feet.

With confidence building, Melikuziev got into a rhythm in the fourth, only to see Fulghum immediately get back into the fight by busting his nose in the fifth with uppercuts. Melikuziev responded with a huge head-rattling left hand in the final 20 seconds.

Fulghum got the better of the action in a back-and-forth sixth with a concerted attack to the body.

After giving several harsh warnings for holding in separate rounds, referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from Melikuziev for the misstep in the seventh. Seemingly understanding the fight could be slipping away on the cards, Melikuziev picked up the pace with several power jabs to ensure he escaped with at least an even round on the cards.

An accidental clash of heads in the eighth caused instant swelling by Melikuziev’s left cheekbone in yet another close round.

After Fulghum outworked Melikuziev in the ninth with several hard body shots, he got the better of the action in the 10th.

Both fighters traded hellacious bombs in the 11th, looking to land perhaps a knockout blow. But instead, clearly fatigued from the war of attrition, both fighters fell on the canvas after losing their footing.

In the opening seconds of the 12th, however, Melikuziev got what he was looking for by dropping Fulghum with a sneaky, popping left hand 20 seconds in. An off-balance Fulghum fell down and back into the ropes but wasn’t hurt, getting up to finish the fight.

After the final bell, Melikuziev and Fulghum raised their hands, believing they’d done enough to win, but there could only be one winner on the night.