By Keith Idec

Super middleweight prospect Anthony Sims Jr. knocked out another overmatched opponent Saturday night.

The undefeated Sims knocked down shorter southpaw Colby Courter three times and won by second-round technical knockout. Referee Jacob Villa stopped their scheduled eight-round fight 40 seconds into the second round on the Jarrell Miller-Bogdan Dinu undercard in Mulvane, Kansas.

Las Vegas’ Sims, 23, improved to 17-0 and produced his 16th knockout. The 5-feet-9 Courter, who’s four inches shorter than Sims, went down once in the first round and twice during the second round.

The 32-year-old Courter, of St. Joseph, Missouri, lost for the fifth time in his past six fights (13-12, 10 KOs, 1 NC).

Sims’ right hand knocked Courter through the bottom rope with 1:23 to go in the first round. Courter got up and made it to the end of the round.

The bigger, stronger Sims wasted no time hurting Courter again as soon as the second round started.

Another right hand by Sims floored Courter 17 seconds into those second three minutes. Courter reached his feet again, but Sims sent him to the canvas for the third time with another right hand.

Villa had seen enough by then and immediately stopped their fight.

Earlier Saturday night, middleweight prospect Nikita Ababiy scored two knockdowns and stopped Javier Rodriguez in the first round of a scheduled four-rounder.

Brooklyn’s Ababiy (2-0, 2 KOs) first floored Rodriguez with a right hand 59 seconds into their bout. A stunned Rodriguez reached his feet, but never really recovered from that trouble.

A left hand to the body by the 20-year-old Abadiy, nicknamed “White Chocolate,” caused Rodriguez to take a knee with 1:14 to go in the opening round. Referee Kevin Champion waved an end to the body as soon as Rodriguez went down for the second time.

The 40-year-old Rodriguez, of Grand Island, Nebraska, fell to 3-7-1 and suffered the third knockout defeat of his five-year pro career.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.