Junior lightweight contender Azinga Fuzile put Martin Ward down twice and stopped him in the eighth round on the Devin Haney-Jorge Linares card Saturday in Las Vegas.
Fuzile (15-1, 9 KOs) and Ward (24-2-2, 11 KOs) were engaged in a close, give-and-fight until the end, which came suddenly.
In the final round, Ward seemed to twist his left knee when he collided with his South African opponent, which made it difficult for him to move properly. Moments later Fuzile landed a big right hand that put Ward down and hurt him.
The Englishman, who suffered a flash knockdown in Round 4, was able to get up but his corner threw in the towel.
Fuzile was coming off a knockout loss to Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in September 2019.
The fight on Saturday was billed as a title eliminator.