By Peter Lim

Heavyweight Eugene Hill (32-1, 24 KOs) electrified his hometown crowd by stopping Nick Guivas (12-5-2, 9 KOs) in the second round at the World Gym Arena in Texas City. Despite being the shorter man, Hill consistently beat Guivas to the jab he used to set up combinations to the head and body.

Midway through the second round, Hill unloaded a left hook-overhand right combination that sent Guivas to the canvass. Guivas barely beat the count and Hill was quick to close in and drop Guivas with a duplicate punch sequence ending the fight at the 1:39 mark.

The card, staged by Savarese Boxing Promotions, featured six boxing bouts and two kickboxing contests.

Light heavyweight Medzhid Bektemirov (17-1, 12 KOs) pounded out a shutout eight-round decision over survival-minded southpaw Quinton Rankin (12-5-2, 9 KOs). Bektemirov tried to make a fight of it but Rankin simply refused to get with the program, opting instead to deploy a retreat-and-clinch strategy.

The Russian pressed the action throughout but was tied up or smothered before he could inflict any significant damage. When trapped against the ropes, Rankin hid inside a tortoise defense absorbing the incoming blows on his arms and gloves, stubbornly refusing to emerge from his shell.

In a wild light heavyweight slugfest, Roberto Silva Jr. (9-1, 4 KOs) worked the body overtime before stopping Gavotte Davis (4-7-1, 2 KOs) in the third round. Silva drove Davis into a corner and unloaded a flurry of unanswered punches, prompting referee Rafael Ramos to call a halt to the bout at the 1:23 mark.

Middleweight Steed Woodall (11-1, 8 KOs) pinned Larry Smith (10-28-1, 7 KOs) on the ropes and stopped him with a barrage of punches in the fourth round.

Welterweight Craig Callaghan (13-1, 4 KOs) utilized his superior height and reach to outpoint Marquis Hawthorne (4-3, 1 KO) over six rounds. Hawthorne scored a flash knockdown in the first round with an overhand right only to have Callaghan return the favor in the second round with a one-two.

Welterweight Janelson Bocachiea (2-0, 1) utilized high volume punching to break down and stop Justin Henderson (0-4) in the fourth round.

In kickboxing:

Paul Garza Jr. dropped Chris Jackson twice with punches to the head en route to a first round knockout.

Israel Zuniga pinned EJ Turner in a corner and let loose a series of right knees to the head for a TKO at 1:08 of the first round.