Eric Priest took another step in the right direction in proving he could be a fresh new face and a serious contender in the middleweight division on Thursday night by masterfully outboxing Tyler Howard for a whitewash win.

Priest frequently fired first with a piston-like jab throughout the night, controlling the entire pace of the contest while stopping Howard in his tracks and preventing him from really ever getting into the clash.

The fight primarily unfolded at one pace for the entirety of the 10 rounds, and Priest pitched a shutout on the cards, netting a unanimous decision with scores of 100-90 from the three judges.

Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) popped his jab with precision in a boxing masterclass but didn’t string many combinations together, allowing Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) to survive and hear the final bell.

Priest landed 126 of 394 punches and Howard connected with 45 of 350 shots. Eighty-three of the punches landed by Priest were jabs.

Howard came into the fight with losses in two out of his last three fights against Troy Isley and Ian Green.

The matchup served as the main event for the Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.