NEW YORK — Xander Zayas took another big step toward legitimate contention, finishing off the previously unbeaten Slawa Spomer in the ninth round on Friday night.

The fight, which co-main evented the Denys Berinchyk-Keyshawn Davis card at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, came to an end at the 2:01 mark. Zayas, now 21-0 (13 KOs), looked to have accepted that this fight was headed to the scorecards. That notion slipped away as a left hook to the body nearly doubled over Spomer, 20-1 (11 KOs), and opened him up to a sustained assault from the 22-year-old Zayas.

Referee Charlie Fitch stepped in to halt the junior middleweight fight in its penultimate round, giving Zayas his first stoppage defeat in three fights, since he knocked out Jorge Fortea in five rounds back in December 2023.

Zayas looked to be in total control early on, busting Spomer’s nose open in the first round with a looping left hook that landed right on the bridge of his nose. 

Spomer, who was born in Kyrgyzstan but now resides in Germany, looked to fight his way back into the match in the second but found himself at the mercy of Zayas’ jab. Zayas made his first impression on Spomer’s midsection in the third, hurting him with a punch similar to the one that would end the bout six rounds later.

Spomer, who is trained by boxing legend Roy Jones Jnr, hit the canvas in the fourth round when a low blow elicited groans from around the arena. Zayas elected to set his target a bit higher later in that round, landing a series of right hands that put Spomer in some trouble. As Zayas looked to press for a knockout, he put himself in peril, getting rocked by an overhand right near the end of the round.

Zayas was more cautious in his approach in the fifth, using his jab to explore what power-punching opportunities may be available. 

The fight settled into that pattern until the ninth, when Zayas decided to make an impression against the first undefeated foe he had faced (aside from a pair of 1-0 opponents early in his career). 

Spomer, 32, was fighting for the first time in the United States after a career built in Germany, with one other bout, a first-round stoppage of Adam Ngange in November, that took place in Dubai. 

In the opening bout of the main broadcast, Vito Mielnicki Jnr and Connor Coyle reached a verdict that neither boxer would have wanted, though it was fun for the fans to watch.

Mielnicki and Coyle battled to a majority draw in their middleweight fight, with one judge scoring it 96-94 for Mielnicki while the other two had it even at 95-95.

Mielnicki, now 20-1-1 (12 KOs), of Roseland, New Jersey, made the first statement of the entertaining brawl, rocking Coyle with an overhand right over a lazy jab in the second. Coyle, 21-0-1 (9 KOs), of Derry, Northern Ireland, proved that he wasn’t there just for a payday, as he stepped up his aggression in the third round, taking advantage of Mielnicki’s willingness to exchange in-close to land a series of left hooks.

Mielnicki accepted the boxer role in the fourth, working off of Coyle’s aggression to land counterpunches. Mielnicki drew blood from around Coyle’s left eye with a right, but his over-eagerness to capitalize led him to walk into a flurry of power punches, which was a trade-off he was seemingly willing to accept.

Coyle’s cutman was able to control the blood in-between rounds, emboldening Coyle to land a flush right hand moments into the round. Mielnicki, who is trained by Ronnie Shields, reverted back to the boxer role in the sixth, which kept him out of unnecessary exchanges and allowed him to set up a right hand at the end of the round. 

Mielnicki continued to seek counterpunching opportunities into the seventh, including a shoulder-roll right hand that hurt Coyle momentarily. Coyle decided to take a play out of Mielnicki’s book, switching to the counterpuncher role and rocking Mielnicki with a right hand early in the round. With the fight closer than he would have wanted it to be, Mielnicki opted to employ a full-court press strategy in the ninth and 10th rounds, bringing the blood back into play and rocking Coyle with a right hand behind the ear late in the 10th. The two traded up to the final bell, giving the fans one last moment of entertainment in a fight that had no shortage of excitement.

The draw was made possible by the late-round rally for Coyle on the scorecard of Kevin Morgan, who saw the last four rounds for Coyle, including the 10th, which the other two judges scored for Mielnicki.

CompuBox stats showed the two throwing nearly the same amount of punches, 535 for Mielnicki to 519 for Coyle, while Mielnicki had a 146 to 95 edge in total punches.

In the final bout of the preliminary undercard streamed on ESPN+, the 19-year-old Juanma Lopez de Jesus made a successful jump to the professional ranks, knocking out Bryan Santiago, 1-2-2, at the 59-second mark of the first round of their flyweight bout.

The 19-year-old Lopez, who is the son of former world titleholder Juan Manuel Lopez, was a 2024 Olympian for Puerto Rico, losing a decision to eventual gold medalist Hasanboy Dusmatov in the round of 16.