Matthew Macklin restored his position as a middleweight title contender with a ruthless stoppage of Joachim Alcine in Las Vegas.
Macklin put Alcine down twice in the opening blows of their non-title clash on the Sergio Martinez-Julio Cesar Chavez undercard and the fight was over inside three minutes.
The Irish middleweight went in to the fight on the back of world title defeats to Felix Sturm and Martinez and he appeared hungry from the opening bell.
He rained in shots on Alcine, who had only previously been beaten twice, and the Quebec-based fighter was on the canvas twice inside the opening minute, the first from a clubbing right he could never recover from.
Macklin continued to dominate as the round wore on, landing more heavy shots that forced referee Jay Nady to call a halt with 24 seconds remaining in the first round.
