Flanagan demolishes Magdaleno, Smith tops Thompson
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WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan (29-0, 12 KOs) demolished American Diego Magdaleno (28-2, 12 KOs) in two rounds on Saturday night at the Manchester Arena in Manchester.
Flanagan dropped Magdaleno three times in the second round before the referee waved off the one-sided bout with the challenger taking more punishment on the ropes.
The Manchester man claimed the belt in July when he defeated Jose Zepeda, who had to quit with a dislocated shoulder after two rounds, but he defended it in devastating fashion.
Flanagan utilized his reach advantage as he continually landed his southpaw jab throughout the opening round.
The champion sent Magdaleno to the canvas for the first time with a right hand early in the second, and although the visitor was able to beat the count, he was soon down again from a onslaught of shots.
After Magdaleno bravely got up for a third time, Flanagan threatened a fourth knockdown with more hard shots and the referee stepped in at 2:38 of the round.
Also on the card, Britain's Liam Smith (21-0, 11 KOs) scored a seventh round KO over American John Thompson (17-2, 6 KOs) to win the vacant WBO light middleweight title.
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Thompson was outboxing Smith in the early rounds but the Liverpudlian was landing some hard shots and he upped his work-rate as the fight progressed.
Smith rocked Thompson in the sixth and he was dominating the fight before he finished it with a hard right hand in the seventh. The referee waved off the bout at 1:44 of the round with Thompson face-first on the canvas.
Smith become the first world champion in his family of professional fighters.