Vergil Ortiz Jr. continued his 100% knockout streak and on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, he clinched his welterweight world title fight by knocking out Michael McKinson in the ninth round.

Ortiz Jr (19-0, 19 KO) made the decisive breakthrough in the eighth round, defeating previously undefeated McKinson (22-1, 2 KO) with a brutal body shot.

Although the Briton survived the round, another body blow in the ninth throw knocked him to the ground again and despite valiantly beating the count, the Briton’s rousing challenge came to an end moments later as his father and coach had a towel in hand, calling for a halt to the contest.

Both welterweight pairs were undefeated heading into their clash at Dickies Arena and five months after they were first set to fight, with Ortiz Jr pulling out of fight week due to illness.

McKinson defeated replacement Alex Martin on points to take the biggest step forward in his career to date.

The American showed no signs of resting in the ring despite a year off since his last fight, an eighth-round victory over Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and looked to consolidate his position in a dominant opener, landing a flurry of punches and giving his opponent a reminder of his devastating power.

However, the 24-year-old returned to the corner with blood streaming down the left side of his face after suffering a nasty cut following an accidental head collision.

McKinson, who was expected to cause problems for the home favorites with his deft style of play, had a better second round and managed to limit Ortiz’s success.

The Texan was in near-complete control by the middle of the match, though, constantly firing to the body to snail-paced McKinson and alternating his attacks up top, although the guy’s chin held up under relentless attack.

RESPECT between these two warriors after a tough fought war by both.#OrtizMcKinson pic.twitter.com/bxJdL4jTGb

— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) August 7, 2022

The visitors struggled to make any real impact on Ortiz Jr., although he began to establish himself in the seventh round and was causing his opponent to miss more often than many before, with his elusive moves causing problems.

However, Ortiz Jr.’s pressure was unrelenting and it was noticeable in the eighth round.

A wicked body threw McKinson to the canvas for the first time in his career.

The 28-year-old southpaw got up and circled Ortiz Jr, signaling the end of the round.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. knocks down Michael McKinson with a perfectly placed body shot 👊#OrtizMcKinson pic.twitter.com/GHcfqxv3k7

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 7, 2022

Ortiz Jr, who was in unfamiliar territory after eight rounds, first threw himself at his opponent early in the ninth, and with McKinson still clearly feeling the effects of the knockdown, another body shot ripped through him and dropped him.

His race appeared to be over and as Ortiz Jr applied the pressure, McKinson’s father and trainer, Michael Ballingall, had the towel in hand and the fight was over, with the Portsmouth fighter wincing in pain from what appeared to be a hip injury.

The fight was a WBA world title eliminator, and Ortiz Jr was the number one contender behind “super” champion Errol Spence Jr and “regular” titleholder Eimantas Stanionis.

Ortiz Jr was asked after the fight about fighting WBO holder Terence Crawford, who was watching from ringside, although a fight between Spence and Crawford seems unlikely considering the pair are in negotiations to fight in a highly anticipated undisputed title fight later . year.

“He’s a little tied up right now” Ortiz Jr. he told DAZN’s Chris Mannix.

“But if the opportunity arises, I will be more than content to fight him.”

In McKinson’s case, his stock will only rise in defeat. “The Problem” put in a solid performance on the biggest stage of his career so far against a world-class cameraman who has come further in the pro game than he’s ever come before.

The Esparza flows from Guzman

Marlen Esparza defended her WBC and WBA flyweight world titles by unanimous decision against Eva Guzman.

In an action-packed match, Guzman (19-2-1, 11 KO) put on a rousing display and had some inspiring moments, although the cleaner and more consistent shots came from the unified champion.

These two are moving forward 🧨#OrtizMcKinson pic.twitter.com/o5LktNuC9y

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 7, 2022

Esparza (13-1, 1 KO) secured a clear victory, as reflected in two scores of 98-92 and another of 99-91.

Cobbs too robust for Hooker

Blair Cobbs returned to his winning ways, dropping Maurice Hooker three times en route to a well-deserved unanimous decision victory.

Cobbs, who recovered from a knockout loss to Alexis Rocha in March, looked the sharper of the two from the very beginning and defeated Hooker (27-3-3, 18 KO) in the first round.

An uppercut followed by a right jab from above left the hometown man shaking on his legs, and a follow-up attack dropped him on the seat of his pants.

THREE GOOD LUCK IN TWO ROUNDS FOR BLAIR COBBS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HYoOzDIVx6

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 7, 2022

Cobbs (16-1-1, 10 KO) upped the ante even further in the second round, and in his most dominant round, he dropped Hooker twice with straight left hands.

Hooker, fighting for the first time since a seventh-round knockout loss to Ortiz in March 2021, was urged to boost his performance by trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre and Crawford, but was unable to significantly disrupt “The Flair,” who boxed his way to victory in the final few rounds after suffering a nasty cut following an accidental head collision in the sixth round.

Two scores of 97-90 and another of 96-91 confirmed Cobbs’ victory.

Melikuziev overtook Janjanin

Bektemir Melikuziev continued his career resurgence after stopping the underdog Slandan Janjanin in three rounds.

Melikuziew (10-1, 8 KO) outweighed Janjanin (32-12, 24 KO) in the first 30 seconds of the fight, defeating the Bosnian with a vicious body shot.

After 3 knockdowns of Melikuziew, the referee ends this one 😤#OrtizMcKinson pic.twitter.com/I5tYT0EccE

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 7, 2022

The 2016 Olympic silver medalist dished out more punishment in the second round, with the 31-year-old knocking down with a pair of hooks.

The end seemed inevitable and Janjanin bravely rose from the canvas after taking another brutal shot in the third round, referee Neal Juvenile stepped in.

Melikuziev is currently undefeated in three fights since his only professional loss to Gabe Rosado.

Remaining Undercard

The aforementioned Alex Martin (18-4, 6 KO) bounced back from a loss to McKinson in his last fight and rose to the top, defeating veteran operator Hank Lundy (31-11-1, 14 KO) with a dominant performance in the super lightweight match.

The 33-year-old was forced to get up from the floor in the first round, but he won with scores of 97-92 (x2) and 98-91.

Elsewhere, Floyd Schofield (11-0, 9 KOs) extended his undefeated lightweight record with a fifth-round stoppage of retired Rodrigo Guerrero (26-15-2, 16 KOs).

In the other two super lightweight fights, Rohan Polanco (8-0, 5 KOs) knocked out Dedrick Bell (31-33-1, 17 KOs) in the second round, while Carlos Nava (9-0, 6 KOs) stopped Rodolfo Hernandez Montoya (30-11-1, 28 KOs) in the fourth.

Figo Ramirez Gonzalez (2-0, 1 KO) picked up his second professional victory, defeating Francisco Bonilla Zambrano (6-14-3, 3 KO) by unanimous decision.