By Rick Reeno

Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas - In a tougher fight than anticipated, light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (16-0, 11KOs) stopped tough as nails Hakim Zoulikha (21-8, 10KOs) in the eight round.

Zoulikha, who was down early, came back to hurt Barrera more than once. Barrera suffered a bad cut above his left eye from a clash of heads. He came back in the eight to get Zoulikha in serious trouble. The French boxer went down from a series of shots. He beat the count but then ate a few good shots before the contest was waved off.

Joel Diaz (19-0, 15KOs) demolished Alejandro Rodriguez (24-18) over four rounds. Rodriguez went down three times before the fight was waved off.

A battle of heavyweights saw Rodney Hernandez (8-2-1, 1KO) win a six round split decision over Brice Ritani-Coe (4-4-1, 3KOs). The scores were 59-55 for Hernandez, 58-56 for Coe and 58-56 for Hernandez.

Heavyweight prospect Cassius Chaney (3-0, 2KOs) stopped Eduardo Ramirez (1-3, 1KO) in the first round. Chaney clocked Ramirez with a hook that sent him down for the full count.