Fast rising welterweight Eimantas Stanionis scored his second victory in six weeks with a ninth round KO of Colombian Janer Gonzalez at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
Trained by Marvin Somodio, Stanionis (12-0, 9 KOs) registered knockdowns in the second, eighth and fateful ninth in another noteworthy performance.
The Lithuanian whirlwind, who represented his nation in the Rio Olympics, swapped body shots with the Miami-based Gonzalez (19-4-1, 15 KOs) in an entertaining battle before his greater power and fundamentals seized control.
The first knockdown came in the second when a left hook downstairs dropped Gonzalez for a count of nine, but to his credit he returned to the fray. He was hurt downstairs again in the fourth before buzzing Stanionis, 26, with a right hand early on in the sixth. But the Lithuanian responded with a ferocious body attack to regain the initiative.
Gonzalez was down again from a big right uppercut in the eighth as Stanionis cranked up the pressure. One round later, it was all over when a right hand decked the Colombian once more and referee Jerry Cantu called a halt to proceedings.
Main image and all photos: Sean Michael Ham/PBC.