HBO Boxing After Dark results: Luis Ortiz, Jessie Vargas score knockout wins

Luis Ortiz took care of business tonight, stopping Tony Thompson in 6-rounds in a fight that wasn't much of one. It was more of a one-sided sparring session where Ortiz had his way with an old opponent who took the fight on short notice. Be that as it may, Ortiz appears to be a heavyweight to watch as his power appears to be legit. Even in fights with low punch outputs, Ortiz shows that he can put fighters down at any moment. He put Thompson down three times in this fight.

The undercard was really the show-stealing fight. Welterweights Jessie Vargas and Sadam Ali faced on another with the vacant WBO world title on the line. The first half of the fight was a really nip and tuck affair, with me giving Vargas a number of close rounds that I thought he edged on clean punching.

As the rounds wore on, it appeared that Jessie Vargas' experience on the big stage began to make the difference in the fight, as he started taking over the fight in the middle rounds. A number of good left hooks landed by Vargas wound up closing Ali's right eye, and in the 8th round Vargas landed a hard right hand which dropped Ali. Ali would be an extended 10-count, but it would make much difference as he wouldn't get his legs back under him.

In the 9th round it was clear that Ali was still on queer street, and Vargas took advantage by going right after Ali, forcing the referee to halt the fight after he landed some more clean hard shots. Ali would end up getting his first taste of professional defeat, with Jessie Vargas calling for a rematch against Timothy Bradley citing the controversial ending of their meeting last year.