Pavlik punishes Sigmon, wins on TKO in seventh

Scott Sigmon was getting pummeled by Kelly Pavlik in the fourth round when a fan at ringside yelled to Sigmon, "Why don't you just quit?"

"I don't think so," Sigmon yelled back, but he probably should have listened to the loudmouth.

Pavlik took another forward step in his quest to once again be a world champion Friday at the Hard Rock Hotel. He dominated and bloodied Sigmon throughout their super middleweight fight, winning by technical knockout in the seventh round of a scheduled 10-rounder.

Sigmon suffered a bloody nose in the second round and a cut above his right eye in the fifth. The cut worsened and after the seventh, Dr. William Berliner recommended to referee Jay Nady that the fight be stopped. Pavlik (39-2) was leading on all three judges' scorecards.

"I'm happy with it," he said. "I'm always going to be more critical of myself but I knew it was a matter of time before he went."

Pavlik showed a newfound versatility, using an effective hook to go with his jab, working the body and landing at will. Sigmon (22-4) took a tremendous amount of punishment and Pavlik refused to get sloppy, sticking with the game plan drawn up by trainer Robert Garcia.

"After 12 years of being a hardhead, I'm finally listening," Pavlik said.

Pavlik's manager, Cameron Dunkin, was pleased by his fighter's performance.

"I loved it," Dunkin said. "He won rounds. He got work. I thought he did very well."

Pavlik said after one more fight, he'll be ready to challenge any of the top super middleweights.

"One more, but it's got to be bigger," he said.

On the undercard, Las Vegas super bantamweight Jesse Magdaleno knocked down Carlos Valcarcel midway through the first round then landed a flurry of punches to score a quick TKO.

Magdaleno (10-0) was scheduled to go eight rounds for the first time, but the fight didn't last one round. He dropped Valcarcel (12-5-4) with a left hand and soon after landed a barrage that caused referee Tony Weeks to step in at 2:25.

"I wasn't expecting this," Magdaleno said. "But everything we worked on, especially the left hand, worked perfectly. I knew when I dropped him he was hurt and I wasn't going to let him hang around."

It was Magaleno's second straight fight that didn't go beyond the first round.

"I know I need the work," he said. "I probably can use more rounds. But one-rounders are good, too."

Light heavyweight Mike Lee improved to 9-0, with the Notre Dame graduate winning a six-round unanimous decision over Eliseo Durazo. Lee outboxed Durazo (3-3) throughout and was ahead 59-54 on all three judges' scorecards.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.