By Alphonso Costello at ringside

MONTEBELLO, California -- Former light heavyweight challenger Rico Hoye stopped “The Punching Policeman” Sam Hill in the tenth and final round Friday night at the Quiet Cannon Country Club.

Hoye (20-1, 15 KO’s) launched an effective body attack by cutting off the ring and continuously forcing Hill against the ropes.

Hill’s ‘run and gun’ style carried him into the tenth round, but Hoye was too cool and smooth for the 36-year-old journeyman.

An accumulation of body shots wore Hill down in the latter stages of the fight.

Hoye unleashed a vicious attack, trapping Hill in the corner with a flurry of punches in the tenth round. After the onslaught Hill prolonged the inevitable by running away from Hoye. Moments later Hoye caught up to Hill and dropped him with a straight right.

The official time of the stoppage was at 2:15 of the tenth round.

Hoye is now 2-0 since his 2005 IBF light heavyweight title loss to Clinton Woods.

On the undercard Jesus Ruiz (19-4, 17 KO’s) knocked out Rodney Moore (8-17-6, 4 KO’s) in a scheduled 6-round light heavyweight bout. The referee stopped the fight at 1:20 of the first round.

Junior welterweight Leonal Madrigal improved his record to 5-3 with a 6-round unanimous decision victory over Alex Ariza (3-10, 3 KO’s). All three judges were in agreement with identical scorecards of 60-54.