In a final eliminator for the WBC junior middleweight title, Ishmael Davis was withdrawn from the scene of battle at the end of the sixth round against Serhii Bohachuk on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
Davis was down from a left hook in Round 2 and, although brave, was out of his depth.
Davis did well to move, switch stances and present Bohachuk with a puzzle that it seemed was going to take some time to solve in the opening session.
In the second, however, Bohachuk started to work away more on the inside, and he was having success.
Bohachuk, who pushed Vergil Ortiz Jnr all the way in a Fight of the Year contender in August, dropped Davis with a short left hook near the end of the round.
Badly shaken, Davis was given time to recover but was on the back foot and having to stay out of harm's way until the bell.
It represented the second consecutive fight Davis had taken at short notice, after he replaced Liam Smith to face Josh Kelly in September. But Bohachuk is one of the big fish in the deep waters of a talent-laden division.
Bohachuk had been due to meet Israil Madrimov tonight, but the world-class California-based Uzbek withdrew and Davis stepped in once more.
Davis bled from a cut right eye in the fourth, and his corner urged him to use his speed. He had managed to get some sort of foothold in the fifth as the Ukrainian had a somewhat frustrated look about him. But in the sixth, Bohachuk kept the pressure on, scoring often, and when Davis returned to his corner, he was withdrawn from battle and saved for another day.
Bohachuk moved to 25-2 (24 KOs). It was a jump too far for Davis, who is now 13-2 (11 KOs).