Liam Smith signaled his intentions to rule the super-welterweight division once again by becoming the first man to stop Jessie Vargas in chief support of Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano.
Smith got cut in the third round over his right eye. Vargas was cut in the fifth as both men came out firing.
The tide began to turn in Smith’s favor as the halfway mark approached and poured on the pressure. He landed heavy artillery on the Vegas man, who somehow stayed on his feet, surviving an incredibly sustained attack in the ninth round.
The referee inspected the former two-weight World champion and deemed him ok to carry on.
But Smith took up the attack once again, and although Vargas gamely tried to stay in the contest, his corner was ready to pull their man out inside a minute of the tenth round.
The referee then stepped in, crowning Liam Smith, the WBO Intercontinental champion, and putting the rest of the division on notice.
CREWS-DEZURN
In the first undisputed fight of the night, all the Super-Middleweight titles will stay in America after Franchon Crews-Dezurn saw off the brave Elin Cederroos.
The twice-canceled battle between the pair was well worth the wait.
Cederroos showed immense heart to keep going in the contest despite bleeding heavily from the nose from the third round.
Crews-Dezurn outworked the Swede and was roared on by her friend Claressa Shields.
The Baltimore star took all the marbles on the scorecards 99-91, 99-91, and 97-93.
YAFAI
It will be hard to keep Gamal Yafai from world title action even this early in his career.
The British Olympic Gold medal man took just two rounds to dismantle Miguel Cartagena. He successfully defended his WBC International super-flyweight title in his second pro fight and first on American soil.
The early action in the night saw Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams show more of his trademark ferocity. He hammered the unbeaten Chordale Booker into the ropes and nearly out of the ring.
After taking a count, the Connecticut man was in no condition to continue, Ammo recording his career’s fifth first-round stoppage win. He sent out a warning to the Middleweight division.
The night began with the talented trio Reshat Mati, Skye Nicolson, and Khalil Coe recording points wins.
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