Vergil Ortiz Jr kept on track for a huge August clash against Tim Tszyu, needing less than a round to dispatch Thomas Dulorme at Save Mart Arena in Fresno on Saturday.
Ortiz Jr (21-0, 21 KOs) came into this contest with a perfect record, and after some illness and injury problems, had moved up to super welterweight for his last contest, a one round blowout of Fredrick Lawson in January. Dulorme (26-7-1, 17 KOs) had lost three of his last four, including a one round loss to Jaron Ennis in 2021, but had only boxed once since, and was no match for the Texan.
With around 30 seconds to go of the opening round, Ortiz unleashed a whipping left hand to the body of the Puerto Rican that folded him on impact.
With the 34-year-old writhing in pain on the canvas, he was unable to beat the count, and the fight was over.
Ortiz, 26, will now face Tszyu on August 3 in Los Angeles on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov.
Ramirez battles past Barthelemy
In chief support, Jose Carlos Ramirez remained in line for a shot at one of his old world title belts, as he widely outscored fellow former world champion, Rances Barthelemy (30-3-1, 15 KOs) over twelve rounds.
Former WBC and WBO super lightweight champion Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs) took a decision win by scores of 119-109 x2, and 118-110.
Esparza shocked by Alaniz
Marlen Esparza lost her WBC, WBA and WBO flyweight titles on the scales, and Gabriela Celeste Alaniz took them in the ring, as the Argentine took a split decision.
Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs) took verdicts of 97-93 and 96-94, against a tally of 98-92 for Esparza (14-2, 1 KO).
Duarte halts Diaz
Oscar Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs) rebounded from a loss to Ryan Garcia, as he stopped Joseph ‘Jo-Jo’ Diaz (33-6-1, 15 KOs) in the ninth of their ten rounder at super lightweight, his fifth loss in six outings.
Remaining Undercard
Raul Curiel (15-0, 13 KOs) won early again, needing less than a round to put Jorge Marron Jr (20-5-2, 7 KOs) away with body shots at welterweight.
At lightweight, Bryan Lua (9-0, 4 KOs) knocked out Ronaldo Solis (4-5-1, 3 KOs) inside a round, and bantamweight prospect Figo Ramirez Gonzalez (6-0, 3 KOs) forced Alejandro Robles (0-3) to retire after three rounds of their meeting.
