MINNEAPOLIS – Ablaikhan Zhussupov overpowered Demarcus Layton late in the second round of their welterweight fight Saturday.
Kazakhstan’s Zhussupov hurt Layton with a left hand while Layton was backed against the ropes in the final minute of the second round. Layton remained on his feet, but Zhussupov continued to hit him with power punches and Layton didn’t throw many punches in return.
Once Zhussupov hit Layton with back-to-back flush right uppercuts, their scheduled six-rounder was stopped on the non-televised portion of the David Morrell Jr.-Aidos Yerbossynuly undercard at The Armory. The official time of the stoppage was 2:44 of the second round.
Zhussupov (3-0, 2 KOs) became the second opponent in the past three fights and the third foe overall to stop Layton (8-3-1, 5 KOs), of Little Rock, Arkansas, inside the distance.
The following fight Saturday, an eight-rounder between Cuba’s Yoenis Tellez (2-0, 2 KOs) and Dario Guerrero-Meneses (1-2-1, 0 KOs) resulted in a no-contest.
Guerrero-Meneses, of Long Beach, California, couldn’t continue after suffering a cut in the middle of his forehead early in the third round. The cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads prior to the end of the fourth round, which was why it resulted in a no-contest.
Earlier Saturday, Demier Zamora went the distance for the first time in seven fights, but the Cuban southpaw soundly defeated Clay Burns on the non-televised portion of the David Morrell Jr.-Aidos Yerbossynuly undercard at The Armory.
Judges Brian Cosgrove (60-54), Mike Fitzgerald (60-54) and Scott Erickson (60-53) all scored this one-sided bout between southpaws a shutout for Zamora.
Zamora, who trains in Las Vegas, went the distance for just the second time as a pro (10-0, 8 KOs). Burns (10-14-2, 4 KOs) is 2-6 in his past eight fights.
In the previous fight Saturday, Jose Perez dropped Angel Luna with a left hook several seconds before the bell sounded to end the second round.
Luna reached his feet, but he stumbled and their fight was stopped with one second remaining in the second round.
Perez, of Oak Hills, California, improved to 11-1-2 and recorded his fifth knockout. Luna (15-12-1, 8 KOs), of the Bronx, New York, has lost six of his past seven bouts by knockout.
Prior to Perez’s knockout, Maximus Garland recorded his third knockout in as many professional fights.
Garland, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, stopped Alex Cortez, of Redding, California, toward the end of the first round of Cortez’s pro debut. Cortez was on his feet, but took too much punishment to continue.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
