LAS VEGAS – Elijah Garcia is beginning to assert himself in the middleweight division.

Garcia, The Ring’s No. 9-rated middleweight, stopped Armando Resendiz in the eighth round in the opening bout of the Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast at the T-Mobile Arena.

The 20-year-old Garcia, who resides in Wittman, Arizona, improved to 16-0, 12 knockouts.

From the opening bell, both fighters stood and traded in the pocket. About a minute left in the first round, the southpaw Garcia connected on a right-left combination that momentarily staggered Resendiz, who was able to make it out of the round.

Resendiz did find some success during the second round after closing the distance between the two fighters.

Both continued to trade in the center of the ring, but it was Garcia who was able to connect with the more-effective punches to the head of Resendiz.

The pace slowed as the fight entered the middle rounds, but Garcia continued to outbox and outland Resendiz, who attempted to utilize lateral movement, but kept his hands down, allowing Garcia to connect more to the head. Garcia continued to keep Resendiz at distance by peppering Resendiz with repeated jabs to the head.

About a minute into the eighth round, Garcia connected on a right hook to the body, followed by a right hook to the head, dropping Resendiz to the canvas. Resendiz beat the count but was met with a barrage of punches. A series of punches landed to the head of Resendiz forced referee Tony Weeks to step in and stop the fight at 1:23.

“It was a really hard fight,” said Garcia after the fight. “Resendiz was real tough. This was my toughest fight so far (of my career).

Resendiz, who resides in Compostela, Mexico, drops to 14-2, 10 KOs. The 24-year-old earned a knockout win over former unified 154-pound world titleholder Jarrett Hurd in his previous fight on March 4.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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