PECHANGA INDIAN RESERVATION -- It may have taken three-plus years, but Sam Soliman finally got his revenge.

The Australian fighter knocked rival Raymond Joval down in the fourth round and cruised to a unanimous 12-round decision in an IBF Middleweight Title elimination bout Sunday at Pechanga Resort & Casino's Grand Ballroom.

Soliman's 15th straight victory avenged a January 2001 loss to Joval in Amsterdam, Netherlands and earned him a bout with Bernard Hopkins, the reigning WBC, WBA and IBF Middleweight Champion.

"I dreamt it that way," Soliman said moments after judges awarded him the fight. "And this all shows dreams do come true. (Now) I want Bernard. He's the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Indeed, Soliman (26-7, 8 knockouts) seemed to dictate the fight from the first round. He began the bout by peppering Joval (32-3, 14 KOs) with a flurry of shots to the head and body. He used his quick hands to keep the punches coming in the second and third rounds.

By the fourth, Soliman's aggressive strategy paid off with the only knockdown of the day. Soliman unleashed an upper-cut that landed squarely on Joval's chin, sending him stumbling to the canvas.

The punishment continued in the middle rounds. Soliman opened a cut on Joval's lip late in the fourth round, closed his right eye with a hook in the sixth, and all but took away his opponent's sight with a shot to the left eye in the 11th.

"It's not just (Soliman's) punching, it was his skills," Joval said. "The result was definitely different from the first time."

Following the fight, Soliman was optimistic that a fight with Hopkins will take place.

"I want Bernard," Soliman said. "He's the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. If he doesn't retire, he won't avoid me."

The Soliman-Joval spectacle made up for an uneventful co-main event. Kirk Johnson's fight with Gil Martinez had to be stopped prior to ninth round after Martinez started bleeding profusely from above his right eye.

Johnson (35-2-1) was named the winner, even though he fought from the second round on with what was later discovered to be a broken hand.

"If I hadn't hurt my hand, I could have stopped it earlier," he said.

In other action:

> James Armah (13-0) defeated Carlos Cisneros (5-7-1) by majority decision in a six-round junior welterweight bout.

> Jovanni Rubio (4-1) knocked out Ricky Funez (1-2) in the second round of a four-round junior middleweight bout.

> Raphael Butler (2-0) knocked out Victor Ortiz (5-2) in the first round of a four-round heavyweight bout.

> Torrence Daniels (0-0-1) and Francisco Urrabazo (4-0-1) fought to a draw in a four-round bantamweight bout.

> Rudy Dominguez (10-0-1) and Gilberto Bolanos (9-7-1) fought to a draw in a six-round junior welterweight bout.

Ryan Finley can be reached at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2630 or rfinley@californian.com.