LAS VEGAS – Having been knocked down early in the fight and likely down on the scorecards, Mirco Cuello rescued what increasingly appeared to be a lost cause with a spectacular liver shot to stop Christian Olivo in the final frame of Saturday’s 10-round featherweight title eliminator at T-Mobile Arena.
With the stoppage, Argentina’s Cuello, 15-0 (12 KOs), became the mandatory challenger to WBA featherweight titleholder Nick Ball. San Diego’s Olivo, who appeared only moments away from earning a decision win, dropped to 22-2-1 (9 KOs).
It was a heartbreaker of an outcome for Olivo, who had put in so much good work over nine-plus rounds leading up to the decisive blows. He began by changing levels effectively, thudding shots to the body and then piercing Cuello’s guard. In the second, Olivo scored a knockdown with a sharp right hand that clearly shook up his undefeated opponent.
Cuello needed a moment to collect himself after rising and rejoining the fight, but he withstood Olivo’s attempts to finish him and gamely fought back. He picked up his activity in the third, a closer round, but wasn’t able to land as often or cleanly as Olivo.
In the fourth, Olivo buckled Cuello’s knees with an overhand right in the first minute and continued to give more than he got. Olivo combined good footwork and head movement with a long jab and well-timed combinations. A right hand-left hook combination backed up Cuello and drew a reaction from the gathering T-Mobile Arena crowd.
Cuello rallied in the sixth, getting hit with a pair of Olivo left hooks but also landing a slick combination and a lunging left hook of his own, among other solid shots. Timing and countering Olivo more effectively, Cuello appeared ready to make a push.
It was back-and-forth at best, though, and despite bloodying Olivo’s mouth, Cuello was getting beat to the punch and outscored. By the ninth, Cuello, likely sensing he needed the rounds and angered – perhaps by Olivo leading with his head – came forward and even shoved Olivo. But the tide had turned, and Cuello, minute by minute, was drifting out to sea.
In the 10th and final round, however, Cuello found the opening he needed. After a sharp right hand to the head that a crouching Olivo misjudged, Cuello followed with a left hook that landed just over his opponent’s hip, dropping him to a knee. Olivo rose quickly, but Cuello, wasting no time, immediately smoked a left hook to Olivo’s gut, sending him back to the canvas. This time when Olivo got to his feet, referee Chris Flores didn’t like what he saw and called it with 2:01 left in the final round.
Earlier, middleweight Yoenli Feliciano Hernandez offered the latest glimpse of a wave of new-school Cuban fighters, overpowering Angel Ruiz for an eighth-round stoppage win.
Hernandez, a 27-year-old now fighting out of Miami, was taking a small step up against Ruiz, a 27-year-old southpaw who knocked out former welterweight title contender Luis Collazo in 2023.
The action was somewhat even through the early rounds, but, gradually, Hernandez took the upper hand. Ruiz wanted to keep his opponent at distance, but the stronger Hernandez would work his way in with the jab, force Ruiz into exchanges and, more often than not, get the best of them.
By the fourth, Hernandez had bloodied Ruiz’s mouth and was routinely walking him back, putting Ruiz’s back to the ropes and picking his shots – mostly ear-rattling hooks and head-snapping uppercuts. In the fifth, with Ruiz unable to keep Hernandez from picking him apart with thunderous shots, referee Allen Huggins ended the fight with 1:06 left in the round.
Hernandez improved to 7-0 (7 KOs), while Ruiz, a Mexican national now fighting out of Los Angeles, dropped to 18-4-1 (13 KOs).Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at and followed on and .