Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
In the inaugural edition of “Friday Night Knockout,” a brand-new televised partnership between truTV and Top Rank, Raymundo Beltran (30-7-1, 18 KOs) knocked out Takahiro Ao (27-4-1, 12 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled 12-round fight at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The fight was originally going to be for the 135-pound WBO title, but Beltran failed to make weight and was unable to win the belt just recently vacated by Terence Crawford.
Nevertheless, the 33-year-old native of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico made quick work of Ao, dropping him in Round 1 with an overhand right before eventually stopping him in Round 2.
In the co-main event, Konstantin Ponomarev (28-0, 13 KOs) scored a 10-round unanimous decision win over Mikael Zewski (26-1, 20 KOs).
The judges scored the fight 99-91, 97-93 and 98-92, for the winner of the NABF Welterweight title.
