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FRISCO, Texas — Teofimo Lopez might be just 21 years old, but he’s already one hell of a fighter.

He tops himself each time out, even as the competition grows stiffer, with a bevy of highlight-reel knockouts. The latest: a seventh-round stoppage of Diego Magdaleno. Lopez laid an absolute beating on his toughest foe yet, showing off his vast array of skills.

With Magdaleno’s nose sliced wide open, Lopez shot punches from seemingly every angle, including a right uppercut that landed with precision. Magdaleno absorbed the beating and motioned to Lopez to come forward, which he happily obliged. Consecutive leaping left hooks — both punches fully loaded up on — sent Magdaleno crashing to the canvas in Round 7 as the referee finally halted the battering.

Lopez (12-0, 10 knockouts) punctuated the victory — his first time reaching the seventh round — with his trademark celebratory back somersault, a move that caught the ire of Madaleno’s brother, former titleholder Jessie.

“Teofimo Lopez, whether you hate him, whether you like him, you’re still going to watch him,” he said. ” … It’s nothing personal; it’s just business. We’re in the entertainment business. … People want to see highlights, people want to see KOs.”

Lopez believes he’s ready for a title shot now, and who can argue with him? He possesses blistering hand speed and the moxie to throw shots from anywhere. He’s interested in meeting Vasiliy Lomachenko at the end of the year, but he says he’s moving up to 140 pounds for his first fight of 2020.

“As the competition gets tougher, you will see more of that I can do,” Lopez said. “I dissected him like a surgeon.”

JAIME MUNGUIA OUTSLUGS TAKESHI INOUE OVER 12 ROUNDS TO RETAIN 154-POUND TITLE

Jaime Munguia racked up another victory, but it didn’t come as easy as expected.

He held off the hard-charging Takeshi Inoue over 12 rounds to retain his WBO junior middleweight title via unanimous decision Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. Two judges scored it a shutout, 120-108, and the third scorecard read 119-109, but those tallies weren’t truly indicative of the competitive nature of the fight.

Inoue landed plenty of flush overhand rights and never stopped coming forward in his first bid for a title. The native of Japan wasn’t well-known entering the bout, but he displayed mettle, grit and toughness in spades.

The DAZN main event was a slugfest from bell to bell. Munguia (32-0, 26 knockouts) unloaded with 998 shots, most of them punches he fully loaded up on. He connected on 311 of them, and the effect was clearly visible at fight’s end. Inoue’s eyes were both badly swollen, particularly his right, where so many of those Munguia left hooks landed clean.

Inoue (13-1-1, 7 KOs) never wavered. The 29-year-old was far smaller than Munguia — both in height and frame — but was the aggressor throughout. He was able to bully Munguia to the ropes time and again, and that’s where he did the best work. But even when he connected flush, the punches never appeared to faze Munguia.

The 22-year-old native of Tijuana, Mexico, brutalized Inoue to the body, and doubled up often on the left hook. Working with trainer Robert Alcazar for the first time, Munguia used the jab far more often than usual. He pumped it 277 times, though he landed just 35 of those. Still, the lead weapon was an effective punch to dictate range.

Munguia was making the third defense of the 154-pound title he won Sadam Ali in May 2018. Munguia’s developed a large following in a short amount of time, and he’s bound to keep headlining his own cards.

He’s rated No. 3 by The Ring at junior middleweight, but he acknowledged he could jump one division north in the near future. Middleweight titleholder Demetrius Andrade is calling for a fight with Munguia, a challenge the Mexican said he would accept.

BY MIKE COPPINGER

ADAM KOWNACKI TEARS THROUGH GERALD WASHINGTON IN TWO ROUNDS

NEW YORK — Adam Kownacki now and likely forever will not be winning bodybuilding contests. His specialty is prizefighting, and even if his physique screams “dad bod,” his fists send a surlier message.

Kownacki went to 19-0 (15 knockouts) as he downed ex footballer Gerald Washington in the lead-in to the main event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Saturday night.

The Polish born hitter, who grew up in Brooklyn, was 258 on Friday, while the Cali-based Washington (19-3-1, 12 KOs) was 243.

Nine fights had already unfolded, but to the 1,500 or so Poles in the building, this was their main event, all due respect to Keith Thurman. The decibel level was to the point where Jimmy Lennon was all but inaudible to the 9,623 in the joint.

In the first, Kownacki came out banging. High, low, then low again, all behind that sturdy frame which makes him that much more identifiable to the masses. Washington backed up, covered up, and tried some uppercuts. He looked to snake a right around the guard of AK, too. A cut near the left eye of Kownacki didn’t bother him a stitch.

In the second, down went Washington. He got up, and got a long assessment. Kownacki got back to work, flurried, and finished him. The ref hopped in, and he had a stool brought to him. His legs were jello shots.

A left to the body, a seamless hook to the head-right follow went Washington back and a straight right straight up hurt him. A right hand as the loser was up against the ropes dumped him hard to the mat. His eyes were glazed like shots on your 21st birthday glazed. He struggled mightily to rise and the ref made sure he was OK to go, like a cop asking a boozer to walk a straight line. The action re-commenced, but not for long. Two of five shots landed and Washington wasn’t all there.

Kownacki picked up a boatload of new fans making a “gimme a belt” motion and then shouting out love to his on site rooters. There at ringside was WBC heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder, who was booed when he was shown on the overhead screen. Wilder fought Washington two years ago and needed five rounds to finish him.

“I trained hard for this fight. I prepared for ten hard rounds, but I’m glad I got it done and ended it as fast as I did,” the winner said to interviewer Heidi Androl.

“I want to thank my team, without them I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I want that belt! We stuck with the game plan. I’m a pressure fighter. I worked on sitting down on my punches and I proved that I have great power when I do that. It’s amazing to have this support from the Polish fans. It definitely gives me extra energy.”

BY MICHAEL WOODS

KEITH THURMAN SURVIVES DETERMINED JOSESITO LOPEZ, RETAINS TITLE BY MAJORITY DECISION

NEW YORK — It had been nearly two years since Keith Thurman had last been in a professional boxing ring.

On the shelf isn’t where he figured he’d be after his breakout win, a split decision over Danny Garcia. First he had his right elbow operated on, ending 2017 for him. Then an injury to his left hand canceled a 2018 return.

In the interim he got married in Nepal and watched as Errol Spence Jr. and his former foe Shawn Porter rose to prominence in the division.

After twelve hard rounds, Thurman (29-0, 22 knockouts) emerged bruised but unbowed, outpointing Josesito Lopez (36-8, 19 KOs) by majority decision to retain the WBA welterweight title on Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 9,623 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

One scorecard had it 113-113 even, while the other two had it 115-111 and 117-109 for the 30-year-old from Clearwater, Fla., who ended 22 months of inactivity with a hard outing in the main event of a PBC on Fox card.

No one knew exactly what to expect when the bell rang for his fight Saturday night against Josesito Lopez. After a tentative opening round, Thurman reminded people why they call him “One Time”.

With about thirty seconds remaining in the second, Thurman stepped back from the taller Lopez and cranked a counter left hook, putting Lopez on the canvas. It looked like we could get an early finish, it turned out to be just a wakeup call for Lopez.

Lopez, though never a world beater, showed why he was known as “The Riverside Rocky”, standing up to the heavy uppercuts and wide swinging rights to land his own shots around the guard of Thurman.

Then things went sideways. After failing to get rid of Lopez inside of six rounds, the way Marcos Maidana, Andre Berto and Canelo Alvarez did, Lopez found his moment, torquing Thurman’s head with a left hook, then knocking his head upright with a right hand. Thurman was in big trouble for the remainder of the round, drawing referee Steve Willis in close for a look as Lopez looked for the finish.

“He had me buzzed and shaken up in the seventh round, but I tried to stay on the outside away. I was a little off in my prediction of how long his arms were. He lunged in and was really willing to commit to the knockout,” said Thurman.

Thurman survived, much in part because Lopez appeared to gas himself out. Thurman recovered behind his jab in round eight, just as he had when Luis Collazo hurt him with a body in round five of their 2015 fight.

Thurman resumed throwing heavy bombs in round nine, landing combinations and periodically touching the body with his left as he circled around the ring.

Lopez walked through the heavy offensive outbursts from Thurman, forcing the titleholder to move more than usual. Thurman appeared exhausted at the final bell but raised his hands victoriously.

“I was disappointed I couldn’t finish him and get him out of there,” said Lopez, 34. “If he thinks he’s the best welterweight out there, then I want two through five lined up for me.”

Thurman had the edge in punch stats with 247 landed out of 899 (27.5%) thrown while Lopez landed 117 of 513 (22.8%). Thurman also had the edge in jabs (79 to 17) and power punches landed (168 to 100).

Thurman excused the performance, saying he didn’t expect to be at his best following the layoff, but took aim at his promotional company’s biggest recent signing, Manny Pacquiao. Thurman says he wants to face the 40-year-old living legend, who made his PBC debut with a unanimous decision over Adrien Broner last week, and wouldn’t mind if he had to travel to the Philippines to do so.

“I would most likely definitely take the Manny Pacquiao fight this year,” said Thurman regarding the fighter who holds the “regular” version of his WBA belt. “I’m ready to fight wherever Pacquiao wants it.”

BY RYAN SONGALIA

TUGSTSOGT NYAMBAYAR A HIT IN BROOKLYN; EARNS WBC FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE SHOT

NEW YORK — The vision is precise, and certainly tells the mind in light-speed time what to do and when to react. That’s all Tugstsogt Nyambayar, the Mongolian 2012 Olympic flyweight silver medalist, needs.

Just that sliver of an opening. Just that minute drop of a glove.

Then he strikes.

He lands with accuracy, and thudding impact, and the game southpaw Claudio Marrero was able to uphold the frequent barrages. He just couldn’t stave off the fissures in his defense that “King Tug” mined.

In his biggest challenge to date as a professional, King Tug won a twelve round unanimous decision over Marrero in the WBC world featherweight title eliminator on the FS1 portion of the PBC on Fox from Barclays Center on Saturday night.

“We had a really good camp so this is just me putting the pressure and pace that we worked on in camp and using it in the ring,” said Nyambayar, after going twelve rounds for the first time in his career. “This sets me up for big fights. Whatever big fights are presented to us, we’ll take it.”

Nyambayar (11-0, 9 knockouts) outlanded Marrero (23-3, 17 KOs) 119 to 114, but needed 509 punches to get there, for 23.4 percent, while Marrero threw a total of 714 punches (16 percent).

Perhaps the most telling stat came in the jabs. King Tug landed just 10, but he threw just 98 (10.2 percent), while Marrero landed 12 jabs of 345 (3.5 percent).

In the 10th, referee Benjy Esteves took a point away from Marrero for hitting Nyambayar on the break. With a welt building below Marrero’s left eye, King Tug engaged again and even landed a low blow, but Esteves didn’t charge Nyambayar with a point.

In the last round, Marrero wanted to battle Nyambayar, but he attacked wildly, and Nyambayar picked him apart with piercing counter rights. Then, Nyambayar thought he would have some fun in closing, hopping around the ring with his arms up.

In the end, Nyambayar had his hand raised, after judges Julie Lederman (114-113), Eric Marlinski (115-112) and John Poturaj (116-111) saw him as the winner.

If Chris Colbert wanted to garner attention, he certainly did with his fluorescent pink look on the top of his head, to the bathrobe he wore into the ring, complete with white fur around the collar.

Colbert, the Brooklyn-based fighter known as “Little B-Hop,” was facing a challenge in Joshuah Hernandez (8-2, 7 KOs) a sinewy, skilled fighter from Chicago who had just lost once prior to meeting Colbert.

The pair fought in close quarters in the first two rounds, with Hernandez sporting a bloody nose for his efforts.

In the third, Colbert (10-0, 3 KOs) showed he could fight southpaw or orthodox, switching things up on Hernandez and making him hesitant. Through four rounds, Colbert had outlanded Hernandez 76-34.

Hernandez tried crowding Colbert in a corner in the fifth, though, to no avail. Colbert bore through the slight onslaught, and even landed a hard right. Too bad Colbert doesn’t possess heavy, one-punch power.

The pair finished the sixth with a wild exchange, after Colbert motioned with his glove to incite Hernandez into coming forward. The two then blasted away until the bell closed the round.

It was a spirited brawl in which Colbert came out ahead.

“He put up a great fight,” Colbert said about Hernandez. “Today I decided not to give the crowd a boxing lesson, I decided I wanted to show them that I can stand and fight with anybody if I choose to. We’re going to keep making these fights easier and easier.

“I have very high-quality fight and I’m getting better and better as we go. I’m looking forward to getting more opportunities.”

In a scheduled six-round super lightweight fight, Antuanne Russell (8-0, 8 KOs) stopped very overmatched Roberto Almazan (7-9, 2 KOs) at :59 of the second round with a pair of knockdowns, both off of right hooks off the top of the head.

It wasn’t much of an exhibition. Russell was clearly the superior fighter and Almazan appeared in survival mode from the opening bell. It didn’t take long for referee Shada Murdaugh to see enough and wave it over.

“I listened to my corner’s directions and they told me that the hook was going to be there when he shot his left hand,” Russell said after what amounted to a sparring session. “I went to my hook position and I was ready to catch and fire.

“This is nothing new to me. I just try to execute what I’m told and sharpen my craft. We’re going back to the drawing board and we’ll be patient.”

BY JOSEPH SANTOLIQUITO

THURMAN-LOPEZ UNDERCARD: CHORDALE BOOKER REMAINS UNBEATEN WITH DECISION WIN

NEW YORK — Chordale Booker (14-0, 7 KOs) easily defeated Juan De Angel (21-10, 19 KOs) by an eight-round unanimous decision on the Keith Thurman-Josesito Lopez undercard at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The official scores at ringside were 80-71 on one card and 79-72 on the other two.

Making his fourth appearance at Barclays Center, the 27-year-old Booker scored the only knockdown of the bout in the seventh round when he hurt De Angel with a body shot causing the Colombian fighter to bend over and take a knee. With his left eye almost closed, De Angel managed to evade the southpaw Booker’s right-handed jab and survive the round.

“We always work on attacking the body, ever since I’ve started. I’ve always been a good body puncher and get great leverage on those punches,” said Booker.

Booker put the pressure on again in the eighth and final round chasing De Angel around the ring looking to add a punctuation point and end the bout in spectacular fashion. A left shot to the body hurt De Angel again sending him into the ropes and away from further punishment by Booker.

The only meaningful moment in the bout for De Angel was in the second when Booker walked into a right hand after leaving his left out there a moment too long. Booker recovered quickly and landed a fiery combination of his own to move De Angel into the corner. Booker had De Angel stunned again in the fifth round and had a seemingly defenseless De Angel in front of him but rather than risk a counter shot back at him Booker decided to keep working behind his jab and snapped De Angel head back.

Booker is continuing to make his climb up the junior middleweight rankings and is coming off a first round knockout victory over Jason Wahr last November in North Carolina. After winning multiple New York City amateur tournaments Booker moved to Connecticut.

“I’m about to make a list of fighters that I want to face to propel me to the next level. I’m going to keep climbing and fighting better opponents. I thought I had a good performance today, but not great. I feel like I showed that I have a lot I can do in this sport,” said Booker.

Philadelphia’s Stephen Fulton improved to 15-0 (6 KOs) with a fifth-round TKO victory over Marlon Olea 13-4 (12 KOs). The official time of the stoppage was 41 seconds of the fifth round.

The lightning-quick Fulton scored two knockdowns in the bout in which he dominated from the beginning. The first knockdown came in the second round when a Fulton measured Olea with a lead left hook that landed clean and put the Colombian Olea down.

Fulton put Olea down again in the fourth round with a sharp three-punch combination that hurt Olea. In the fifth round it became evident that Olea went into survival mode and stopped trying to compete. A one-two combo almost floored Olea again but before he could try to fall into the ropes the referee decided he had enough.

The 24-year-old Fulton is coming off victory over German Meraz last September in California and spent time in camp with Carl Frampton last year.

Middleweight prospect Mark Duncan (3-0, 3 KOs) defeated Daniel Flores (0-3) by TKO in the third round. The official time of the stoppage was 1:46.

The accumulation of punches in addition to a nasty cut over Flores’ right eye was enough for the referee to stop the bout. The 31-year-old Duncan got off to a fast start in the opening round hurting Flores several times including opening up the gash above the right eye with a clean punch.  The Clarksburg, Md. native is coming off a first round TKO victory over Ray Cervera at Barclays Center last month on the Charlo Brothers undercard.

In welterweight action Tyrek Irby (6-0, 2 KOs) defeated Jonathan Figueroa (2-2, 1 KO) by four-round unanimous decision. The official scores at ringside were 40-36 and 39-37 on the other two.

The 25-year-old Irby was too fast and sharp for Figueroa who had trouble keeping up with the Maryland-native. Irby stunned Figueroa twice in the second and again the last round by landing clean combinations starting with the body then going back up top.

Irby is coming off unanimous decision victory over Lamont White in his hometown of Maryland late last year.

In the opening bout of the evening super middleweight prospect Mycheal Teal (2-0, 2KO’s) scored a first round knockout of Jacob Landin (0-3). The official time of the stoppage was 30 seconds. The 24-year-old Teal is a gym mate of Keith Thurman and is trained by Dan Birmingham. 

BY VLADIMIR LIK