By Keith Idec

Teofimo Lopez easily passed what was supposed to be the toughest test of his 10-bout pro career Saturday night.

The supremely confident lightweight prospect knocked out veteran William Silva in the sixth round of Lopez’s first scheduled 10-rounder at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Lopez dropped Silva once apiece in the first, fifth and sixth rounds on the Regis Prograis-Juan Jose Velasco undercard.

Referee Bruce McDaniel stopped the fight 15 seconds into the sixth round, immediately after Silva went down for the third time in the fight.

Brazil’s Silva (25-2, 14 KOs) hadn’t been knocked out before Lopez stopped him. His lone loss before opposing Lopez was a 10-round, unanimous-decision defeat to then-undefeated Felix Verdejo (23-1, 15 KOs) in February 2016 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The 20-year-old Lopez, of Davie, Florida, improved to 10-0 and produced the eighth knockout of a pro career that began in November 2016.

Lopez’s flush left hook connected just over a minute into the fifth round. Lopez landed three lefts to the body later in the fifth.

A right hand by Lopez moved Silva backward with just under 20 seconds to go in the fifth. Two Lopez left hooks knocked down Silva for the second time in the fight right before the end of the fifth round.

Silva waited for McDaniel’s count to reach nine before getting up again.

Lopez wasted no time attacking Silva once the sixth round began. A lunging left hook by Lopez dropped Silva flat on his back again and McDaniel immediately stopped the one-sided action.

Lopez landed two solid straight right hands during the last 30 seconds of the fourth round.

Lopez hit Silva with an array of power punches to his head during the final 35 seconds of the third round. That sequence started when Lopez landed a right uppercut and a left hook and later knocked Silva into the ropes with a left hook.

A lunging left hook by Lopez knocked Silva flat on his back with 36 seconds to go in the first round. Silva answered McDaniel’s count at eight.

Bleeding from his nose, Silva survived the rest of the round.

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