Damian Lescaille found the opening to avoid a second consecutive distance fight.

A right hook by the Cuban southpaw crashed home on the jaw of Ray Barlow late in their welterweight fight. Barlow was out to the point where the referee waved off the contest without a count at 2:58 into the ninth round of their DAZN-aired chief support Friday evening at Caribe Royale in Orlando.  

Lescaille was forced to go the full ten-round distance in his previous outing and appeared well on his way versus Atlanta’s Barlow (7-4, 4KOs), who was not on the same skill level but found a way to survive for more than eight rounds. There were moments when Lescaille—who trains in Houston under the guidance of Ronnie Shields—appeared to try too hard to close the show rather than rely on the skill set that allowed him to fight at an advanced career path so early into his pro journey.

Barlow had a brief moment of success when he landed a right hand in round seven. Lescaille was briefly bothered by the shot but quickly regrouped and otherwise dominated the fight.

The bitter end came late in round nine. Lescaille landed a pair of left hands to leave Barlow frozen in his tracks. A follow-up right hook crashed home on Barlow’s chin to put him flat on his back. No count was necessary as immediate attention was paid to the fallen American boxer.

Lescaille advanced to 6-0 (4KOs) as he recently celebrated his one-year anniversary as a pro earlier this month. The inside-the-distance ending allowed Lescaille to pocket an additional $5,000 knockout bonus.

Headlining Friday’s card, Amanda Serrano (45-2-1, 30KOs) defends her unified lineal, WBA, IBF and WBO featherweight championship versus Brazil’s interim WBO titleholder Danila Ramos (12-2, 1KOs). Their main event is scheduled for twelve, three-minute rounds.

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