Gervonta Davis retains WBA super-featherweight title with first-round knockout of Hugo Ruiz
Sunday 10 February 2019 13:31, UK
Unbeaten Gervonta Davis retained his WBA super-featherweight title with a first-round knockout win over former champion Hugo Ruiz.
Referee Jack Reiss called a stop to the contest, in front of 8,048 at Dignity Health Sports Park in California, after just two minutes and 29 seconds following a bombardment of punches which floored Mexican veteran Ruiz.
Ruiz had stepped in as a late replacement after Davis' original opponent, three-division champion Abner Mares, withdrew last month after suffering an eye injury.
Davis' promoter Floyd Mayweather was sat ringside and observed the 24-year-old extend his record to 21-0-20KOs.
Elsewhere, Ruiz's compatriot Rey Vargas successfully defended his WBC world super-bantamweight title against Venezuela's Franklin Manzanilla,while Alberto Machado of Puerto Rico lost his WBA secondary super-featherweight belt to American Andrew Cancio.
