Steven Nelson knew he couldn’t waste any more time Saturday night.

Bleeding from two cuts over his left eye, the unbeaten super middleweight contender went after DeAndre Ware and took him out in the sixth round of their scheduled 10-rounder at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Nelson hurt Ware twice in the sixth round before referee Jay Nady stopped the action at 2:24 of the sixth round, with Ware still standing.

The 32-year-old Nelson (17-0, 14 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, won a fourth straight bout by technical knockout on the Jamel Herring-Jonathan Oquendo undercard.

The 32-year-old Ware (13-3-2, 8 KOs) lost a second consecutive fight by TKO. Russian contender Vladimir Shishkin (11-0, 7 KOs) beat him by eighth-round TKO in his previous appearance, last August 23 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Ware, a full-time fireman in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, made headlines Friday, when he helped save the life of Top Rank employee Pete Susens. A certified EMT, Ware administered CPR on Susens, who was taken to a Las Vegas hospital after suffering a heart attack about half an hour before Ware weighed in for his fight against Nelson.

A left hook by Nelson wobbled Ware with 1:17 to go in the sixth round. Ware held Nelson to try to survive that trouble, but Nelson’s right hand rocked Ware again.

Nelson let his hands go with Ware backed against the ropes, which made Nady step in to halt the action.

Nelson’s right hand landed flush with just over 1:10 to go in the fifth round. A little later in the fifth, another clash of heads opened a second cut near Nelson’s left eye, this time just beneath his eyebrow.

Nelson was cut closer to the side of his head when they butted heads during the second round. The second cut was deeper and longer than the first cut Nelson suffered.

Nelson turned away from Ware after absorbing the impact of that clash of heads in the fifth round. Nady called for a break with 39 seconds to go in the fifth round, which allowed a ringside physician to look at Nelson’s lacerations.

Ware swung wildly and missed with a right hand early in the third round. Nelson pumped his jab for much of the third round, but he missed most of his power shots in those three minutes.

Ware landed a left to Nelson’s body just before the end of the third round.

An accidental head-butt caused a cut around Nelson’s left eye in the second round.

A right hand by Nelson landed early in the first round nearly caused a knockdown. Ware’s right knee almost touched the canvas after he took that shot, but he avoided the knockdown. 

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