By Ryan Maquiñana

Irish lightweight prospect Jamie “The Nuisance” Kavanagh already has his next fight date lined up mere days after his latest victory.

“Jamie’s coming back on the July 14 Amir Khan-Danny Garcia undercard in Las Vegas at Mandalay [Bay],” said manager Steven Feder, “and it’s going to be an eight-rounder for the first time.”

Last Saturday, Kavanagh (9-0, 4 KOs), a Dublin native who has settled in Malaga, Spain, and now Los Angeles, Calif., where he trains at Hollywood’s Wild Card Gym, stopped Jorge Ibarra (11-6-2, 5 KOs) in two rounds at the Oasis Hotel Complex in Cancun, Mex.

“I thought Jamie looked fantastic,” Feder said.  “We told him we want to see him work behind the jab more and letting his hands go in the pocket right away.  He was mixing up his attack right off the bat instead of taking a long time to feel his way through.”

With longtime trainer Sedano Ruiz in his corner, Kavanagh officially dropped Ibarra twice in the second frame en route to the stoppage.  A left hook scored an initial knockdown, and the final barrage followed—a few body shots and a fake uppercut leading to an overhand right that landed flush, sending Ibarra to the canvas for good.

“Before, Jamie would land a shot and take a step back, but this time, he was more aggressive and took a step forward after landing a shot,” Feder said.  “Look, we’re not going to fix everything in one shot, but if we can fix something here or there in each fight, he’s going to improve.  I think he’ll be much more relaxed in an eight-rounder where he’ll have more time to break his opponents down.”

Ryan Maquiñana writes a weekly boxing column for CSNBayArea.com.  He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com , check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.