KISSIMMEE, Fla. – It’s not as if Najee Lopez had been struggling to deliver an eye-catching performance. The light heavyweight from Atlanta has been regularly hammering out opponents on his way up the rankings – but Saturday’s showing may have been his best work yet.

On the undercard of the Erickson Lubin-Ardreal Holmes Jnr main event, Lopez deconstructed Juan Gerardo Osuna in a four-knockdown, second-round stoppage to delight the crowd at the Silver Spurs Arena and build the kind of momentum that might wind up being a double-edged sword.

A perfectly placed left hook to the midsection from Lopez sent Osuna to a knee roughly midway through the first. Osuna bounced back up immediately, but he might have taken his time. Lopez cracked his side yet again, buckling Osuna, who somehow kept his feet.

But not for long. 

Lopez followed a subtle feint with an overhand right upstairs that toppled Osuna early in the second. Another strafing right hand to the head dropped Osuna to a knee for a flash knockdown moments later. By now, Lopez was hunting, sizing up a series of juicy targets presented by his opponent. Another booming left hook to the body dropped Osuna for the third and final time in the round, as referee Chris Young stepped in to call it.

Ranked No. 13 by the WBA going into the fight, Lopez, now 14-0 (11 KOs), continues to build his resume – but possibly also scare off matchmakers. 

Osuna, from Mexicali, Mexico, fell to 22-3 (20 KOs) with the loss.

In other undercard action:

Brazil’s Hebert Conceicao Sousa made quick work of Rowdy Legend Montgomery with a second-round stoppage win in their middleweight eight-rounder.

Sousa’s superior power showed from the opening bell, with a barrage of overhand rights and left hooks putting Montgomery on the back foot and bouncing him off the ropes. The start of the second round was delayed as the ringside doctor took extra care in examining Montgomery, of Victorville, California.

Sousa could afford to wait. He needed only another minute or so to take the remaining fight out of Montgomery, who reacted to a hard Sousa right hand by taking a backwards step, bringing his glove to his cheek and then taking a knee. The referee waved it off 1 minute and 11 seconds into the round. 

The result visibility frustrated Sousa, either upset that he was denied rounds or a bigger finish. But his mood brightened in the post-fight interview as he declared, “Guys, USA, I’m here! Thank you!”

Sousa moved to 7-0 (4 KOs), while Montgomery took his third loss in four fights, falling to 11-7-1 (8 KOs).

Dominic Valle preserved his undefeated record with an impressive unanimous decision over Brandon Valdes in an eight-round junior lightweight clash, winning 79-73 on all three scorecards.

Valdes, from Rosemead, California, caught Valle with an uppercut and a left hook in the second, but Valle gradually stepped on the gas and, by round’s end, seemed to lock in his timing and distance.

In the third, Valle, of Tampa, Florida, spun Valdes’ head with a left hook, a right cross and another left hook, and Valdes began to feel Valle’s power with his back on the ropes and in the corners. In the sixth, Valle was breaking through Valdes’ high-and-tight guard with both hands, and in the seventh Valle snapped his opponent’s head back with a straight right that drew an audible gasp from the crowd.

Valdes, now 15-6 (7 KOs), never stopped trying to land his offense, but whenever he opened up, Valle, 11-0 (7 KOs), had an answer, including a thudding left hook in the eighth that was nearly enough on its own to take the round.

Jorge de Jesus notched his best win to date, edging the previously undefeated LaVonte Earley for a split decision win in their eight-round junior welterweight bout.

Scores were 78-74 and 77-75 for de Jesus, 77-75 for Earley, .

Earley, from Charlotte, North Carolina, used his long jab and footwork to control distance and seemingly bank early rounds, but de Jesus, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, stayed active and aggressive, getting his licks in bursts when he could step inside to smother Earley’s offense. The eighth was a pivotal round, as de Jesus poured on the punches, many of which Earley snuffed. But a few eye-catching shots and a firmer determination to engage from de Jesus, now 14-1 (10 KOs), may have cost Earley, 18-1 (12 KOs), in the last round.

Local junior middleweight Ryan Maine dropped and stopped Gabriel Escalante with a liver-wilting left hook in the second round of their scheduled eight.

Orlando’s Maine, 8-0 (5 KOs), made a concerted effort to target the body of the taller Escalante from the start, attacking from angles and a crouched position to find his openings. The end for Nicaragua’s Escalante, now 14-4 (7 KOs), came at 2 minutes, 39 seconds of Round 2.

In the opening bout, middleweights Jonas Sylvain and Yojanier Martinez fought to a fan-friendly, punch-tastic majority draw that streamed on YouTube.

One judge saw it 77-75 for Martinez, while the other two scored the eight-rounder even, at 76-76. Martinez, of Las Vegas, is now 5-0-1 (2 KOs), while Sylvain, of Delray Beach, Florida, is 8-0-1 (4 KOs).

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.