Vicente Escobedo, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, stopped former titleholder Kevin Kelley at 1:53 of the second round of a scheduled 10-round lightweight bout in Sacramento, Calif.

Escobedo (21-1, 13 KOs) knocked down Kelley (60-10-2, 39 KOs) with a counter right early in the final round. Kelley was able to get up but went down again under a barrage of punches and the fight was stopped.

Escobedo has now won 12 consecutive fights after an upset loss to Daniel Jimenez in 2006. He is ranked No. 4 by the WBC and No. 11 by the WBO.