Subriel Matias beat the fight out of another opponent.
The 140-pound titleholder from Puerto Rico pounded Shohjahon Ergashev mercilessly until the Uzbek decided to stay on his stool after five rounds on the David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade card Saturday in Las Vegas.
Ergashev (23-1, 20 KOs) got off to a good start, using his right hand as a range finder and landed many hard, accurate left hands in the first few rounds.
However, by Round 3, an unfazed Matias (20-1, 20 KOs), had worked his way inside and began to overwhelm his opponent with a variety of brutal power punches.
Ergashev tried to fight back in the final few rounds — and clinched in an attempt to slow Matias down — but he didn’t have the tools to keep the Puerto Rican slugger away.
Ergashev didn’t come out of his corner for the start of Round 6, complaining of an injury to his right leg.
Matias has now forced five consecutive to opponents to retire in their corners.
He was making the first defense of the title he won by knocking out Jeremias Ponce in five rounds in February.
Ergashev was fighting for a major title for the first time.
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