David Stevens stopped Sean Hemphill in the final seconds of a scheduled eight-round fight between 168-pound prospects Friday night in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:58.
Stevens (12-0, 9 KOs) and Hemphill (14-1, 8 KOs) engaged in a competitive back-and-forth fight that seemed to be up in the air as the action was coming to a close.
The CompuBox stats supported that notion, as Hemphill had a 90-79 edge in total punches landed.
However, the judges evidently believed Stevens landed the cleaner shots because all three of them had Stevens leading 68-65 — five rounds to two — after seven rounds.
None of that mattered in the end. In the final seconds Hemphill, his back in a corner, was hurt by a left-right combination and then collapsed under a flurry of follow-up shots.
He was able to get up but went down again under another barrage, prompting the referee to stop the fight with only two seconds to go.
Stevens, a 22-year-old from nearby Reading, took a significant step toward becoming a legitimate contender. He now has three consecutive knockouts.
Hemphill, a 27-year-old from New Orleans, will have to regroup.
In a co-feature, light heavyweight prospect Atif Oberlton (8-0, 6 KOs) of Philadelphia defeated Artem Brusov (12-1, 11 KOs) of Russia by a unanimous decision in an eight-round bout.
