Nine months after Kyrone Davis upset him by split decision, Elijah Garcia got a debatable nod on the scorecards this time around.

Garcia defeated veteran Terrell Gausha by split decision Saturday in a back-and-forth 10-round fight Gausha seemingly could’ve won just as easily on the Sebastian Fundora-Chordale Booker undercard at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. Judge Chris Migliore scored the fight 95-94 for Gausha, who dropped Garcia with a right hand in the first round.

Judges Don Trella (95-94) and Zachary Young (96-93) scored the action for Garcia, a 21-year-old southpaw who bled from his nose for nine-plus rounds. Garcia brutalized the 37-year-old Gausha to his body, but Gausha continually connected with hard right hands to the head of the defensively deficient Garcia.

Garcia (17-1, 13 KOs) still won his first fight since Davis edged him in their 10-rounder on the Gervonta Davis-Frank Martin undercard last June 15 at nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“People can think what they want,” said Garcia, who went off as a 6-1 favorite according to DraftKings. “I went in the ring and fought my ass off against an Olympian. He’s only lost to world champions, and I went in there and beat him. He’s very experienced, very crafty. He was able to do some things that he wanted, but I figured it out as time went on. Whoever thinks I lost, whatever. I won.”

Gausha landed 35 more punches overall according to CompuBox’s unofficial count (189-of-542 to 154-of-738). Garcia was closer in power punches, as Gausha connected on only four more of those shots (135-of-319 to 131-of-481).

“He was a tough, gritty guy,” Gausha said. “That’s why I took this fight – I knew he would push me. I just thought I did what I had to do. The decision is unfortunate, but all I can do is try to regroup and get better.”

The gutsy Garcia’s surprising loss to Davis (19-3-1, 6 KOs) encouraged Garcia to change trainers – from the tandem of his grandfather, George Garcia Sr. and his father, George Jr., to Bob Santos. Elijah Garcia lived with Santos for nine months in the Las Vegas area and got better sparring in “The Fight Capital of the World” than was available in Phoenix, about 45 minutes south of where Garcia lives with his wife and two children on a farm in Wittmann, Arizona.

The technically sound, experienced Gausha (24-5-1, 12 KOs), a 2012 Olympian from Cleveland, is 3-4-1 in his past eight fights. Those losses came against Garcia, WBC middleweight champ Carlos Adames, former WBO junior middleweight champ Tim Tszyu and longtime 154-pound contender Erickson Lubin.

An aggressive Gausha, apparently well aware he needed to finish the fight strong to have any chance on the scorecards, let his hands go in combination during the first half of the 10th round. Gausha landed right hands, but Garcia backed him into the ropes and landed a clubbing right hand.

Garcia also landed two hard lefts to Gausha’s body with about 40 seconds to go in their fight.

Gausha caught Garcia with right hands while boxing off his back foot in the first two minutes of the ninth round. Garcia landed a hard right hook to Gausha’s body with about 20 seconds to go, but not much else in the ninth round.

Garcia landed combinations to Gausha’s body during the eighth round. He used his left glove to better block Gausha’s right hand in that round, but Gausha managed to sneak in a few to keep Garcia honest.

Gausha caught Garcia with a left hook several seconds before the midway mark of the seventh round. After taking body shots thereafter, Gausha unloaded hard punches to Garcia’s head as the seventh round drew to a close.

Garcia kept battering Gausha’s body in exchange for absorbing head shots throughout the sixth round. Gausha also unloaded a barrage of power shots while fighting off his back foot toward the end of the sixth round.

Gausha and Garcia trade hard punches for much of the middle minute of the fifth round. Garcia pressured Gausha for much of that round, but Gausha landed several hard right hands as Garcia plowed forward, often with his head down.

A determined Garcia’s body work was effective again during the fourth round. His defensive holes still enabled Gausha to land clean right hands in what was a competitive three minutes of action.

Garcia continued to hammer away at Gausha’s body during the third round. Gausha kept him honest in that round, though, by firing hard rights to his head, the same types of punches that dropped Garcia in the first round.

An aggressive Garcia, already bleeding from his nose, attacked Gausha as soon as the second round started. He landed right uppercuts to Gausha’s head as well as rights and lefts to Gausha’s body during a strong second round for the younger, favorted fighter.

Neither fighter did much during the first round until Gausha’s right hand knocked Garcia flat on his back with 1:22 remaining in it. Garcia did a somersault and got to his feet almost as soon as Hoyle started counting.

Garcia seemed surprised more than hurt. Hitting the canvas definitely woke him up, as he began firing hard head and body shots at Gausha, who was cautious after scoring that knockdown.

“I figured after he dropped me that was the hardest I was going to get hit,” Garcia said. “I prepared for it 1,000 percent. I don’t control the judges. My job is in the ring. It was a little closer than I thought. For the most part, I controlled the fight. It was a good experience. I am ready for the next one. I never turn down the fight. I’ll fight anybody.”