Sunday 10 April 2016 03:11, UK
Jamie McDonnell defended his WBA bantamweight belt with a dominant stoppage win over Fernando Vargas.
The Doncaster man gradually broke the resistance of Vargas, a late replacement opponent, and ended the fight with a fierce flurry of punches in the ninth round at The O2.
McDonnell went to work with his range-finding jab in the first, probing the defence of Vargas, who answered with a looping right hand.
Into the second round, McDonnell continued to gain the measure of the Mexican and sunk in hurtful body shots.
But the Yorkshireman had seen enough by the third and unloaded a succession of sharp right hands.
Vargas carries the same name as a former world champion, with comparisons ending there, and McDonnell emphasised the gulf in class with a crisp combination in the fifth.
McDonnell continued to land his straight right with regularity in the sixth, although Vargas did reply with a right hook in the seventh.
But Vargas was spending much of the rounds in reverse, with the champion relentless in his pursuit, and McDonnell finally pinned him down in the ninth.
A sustained assault from McDonnell left Vargas wilting by the ropes and he dropped to one knee after a right hand, prompting the intervention of referee Terry O'Connor.
