By Keith Idec

Stephen Fulton swiftly stopped Isaac Avelar with a well-placed body shot during the fifth round Saturday night.

Their scheduled 10-round super bantamweight bout was relatively uneventful before Fulton snuck a left hook around Avelar’s guard and sent him to his gloves and knees with 1:46 to go in the fifth round. A temporarily immobilized Avelar didn’t attempt to get up before referee Tony Garcia counted him out in a fight FS1 televised from Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, Texas.

The official time of the stoppage 1:26 of the fifth round.

Philadelphia’s Fulton, 25, improved to 17-0 and recorded his eighth knockout. Mexico’s Avelar, 21, lost for the first time as a professional (16-1, 11 KOs).

Fulton stated during his post-fight interview that he’d like to box Brandon Figueroa, who was scheduled to defend the WBA’s interim 122-pound championship in the main event versus Javier Chacon.

Before Fulton finished Avelar, Garcia warned Fulton for a low blow early in the fifth round. A straight left by Avelar backed Fulton into the ropes and caused him to move away from Avelar about a minute into the fifth.

Fulton connected with a straight right hand as soon as the third round began. Another right hand by Fulton landed about a minute later.

An even flusher right hand from Fulton landed later in the third round.

Avelar pressured Fulton and kept him on his back foot for most of the second round. Avelar’s straight left landed with about 50 seconds to go in the first round.

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