Marco Romero stops Matias Ferreira in first round

Marco Romero stopped Matias Ferreira at 1:54 of the first round Saturday in Las Vegas, extending his unbeaten record to 16–0 with 14 knockouts.

The October 17 super middleweight bout at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan ended after Romero landed a right hand that sent Ferreira to the canvas. Ferreira regained his feet but remained unsteady, prompting referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight, according to Premier Boxing Champions’ report.

Romero landed 11 body shots before finding the opening for the finishing right hand. The result was his third consecutive first-round knockout and followed another opening-round stoppage in August.

Ferreira, of Uruguay, dropped to 8–4 with three knockouts. The fight had been scheduled for eight rounds on the card headlined by Sebastian Fundora’s title defense against Ermal Hadribeaj.

Afterward, Romero said he wanted stronger opposition as he continued his pursuit of a middleweight title. “I’m ready to step it up in opposition,” he said in comments published by PBC.