By Chris LaBate
Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada - In his second fight in thirteen days, heavyweight Chris Arreola (32-2, 28KOs) pounded Kendrick Reliford (22-15-2, 10KOs) for a stoppage win in round seven of an ESPN Friday Night Fights televised main event.
They were jabbing early but before long Arreola had him against the ropes and started banging away to the head and body. Arreola was using the jab to work inside and landed hooks to the body and three punch combinations. Releford kept up a high guard trying to block everything and threw little in return.
The end began in the fifth with Releford getting tired and Arreola starting to land very often. A combination in the sixth sent Releford down to a knee. Arreola started pounding him with both hands. When Arreola started hurting him to the head in the seventh, the ref jumped in to stop the fight.
In the televised co-feature, Tony Thompson (36-2, 24 KOs) crushed Maurice Harris (24-15-2, 10 KOs) in the third round of an IBF heavyweight eliminator for the number two ranking. Thompson sent Harris to the deck in each round before the fight was stopped. Thompson moves forward to an IBF final eliminator with Eddie Chambers for the number one position.