Angel Fierro lived up to his promise of bringing the pain.

The rising lightweight contender used brute strength to overwhelm Philadelphia’s Jeremy Cuevas en route to a seventh-round stoppage. No knockdowns were scored in the entertaining DAZN co-feature, though a volley of unanswered punches from Fierro forced the stoppage at 0:53 of round seven in their lightweight bout Saturday evening at Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Mexico.

Cuevas punched in combination throughout the opening round. The Philly-bred southpaw didn’t always land but also didn’t waste any energy as he took advantage of a deliberate start offered by Fierro.

Momentum took a quick and violent turn in round two. Fierro threw with greater regularity and conviction, landing his right hand around Cuevas’ high guard. Cuevas was forced to contend with early swelling under his right eye and offered far less movement than was the case in the opening round.

Fierro continued to apply constant pressure in round three. Cuevas was able to return to his desired stick and move style, though not to the same degree as he offered at the start of the bout. Fierro caught Cuevas with an uppercut and was steady with his right hand, while Cuevas worked off the jab.

The body attack of Fierro began to slow down Cuevas, who spent far too much time along the ropes or in the pocket throughout round four. Cuevas was able to pick off most of the incoming but wasn’t landing anything of substance in return.

Fierro picked up the pace in round five, connecting with uppercuts and left hooks. Cuevas was frozen at point, with Fierro throwing more than a dozen unanswered punches to the delight of the partisan crowd. The sequence was followed up by two more barrages, though taking its toll as Fierro was pushing the majority of his punches while Cuevas was able to respond in the final minute of an entertaining round.

Action was fierce throughout round six, though with Cuevas on the very wrong end of a momentum shift. The two traded punches at close quarters, with Fierro landing a right hand to the temple and a left hookercut to the chin at the bell. Cuevas was clearly affected by the sequence, with not even the one-minute rest period enough to regain his bearings.

Fierro was instructed to close the show and did so in emphatic style. Cuevas (14-2, 10KOs) banged together his gloves and shouted for Fierro to come forward, showing a world class chin and bravery beyond his skill level but nothing in the way of offense by that point. Fierro let his hands go, unloading with power shots until forcing the stoppage.

The feat puts Fierro back in the win column after a disappointing draw with Juan Carlos Burgos in his San Diego hometown earlier this year. Fierro improves to 20-1-2 (16KOs), with Saturday’s performance reminiscent of his upset win over former junior lightweight titlist Alberto Machado last March on the road in Puerto Rico.

Headlining the show, top featherweight contender and local favorite Mauricio ‘Bronco’ Lara (24-2-1, 17KOs) faces Colombia’s Jose Sanmartin in a scheduled ten-round non-title fight.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox