By Aaron Klein: Undefeated welterweight contender Luis Carlos Abregu (23-0, 20 KOs) made easy work of Thomas Davis (12-8-2, 7 KOs) in a 2nd round TKO of a scheduled 10-round bout on Wednesday night at the Sycuan Resort & Casino, in El Cajon, California. Abregu, from Argentina and ranked #15 in the WBC, flattened Davis in the 1st and 2nd rounds. After the knockdown in the second, the fight was stopped by Davis’ corner because he was having problems with his left eye, causing him to rub it constantly and squint out of it as if he had injured it.

Abregu, from Argentina, used power punching to give Davis, 36, problems in the first round, backing him up with a high number of big hooks to the body and head. Davis, who is known mostly for his surprise 1st round TKO of then light welterweight prospect Kendall Holt in 2004, started out jabbing in the opening round, trying to keep his distance from Abregu as much as possible. It worked for about a minute until Abregu caught up with Davis and nailed him with a huge right uppercut, sending him to the canvas.

Davis got up off the deck and immediately began squinting and rubbing his left eye, apparently hurt from Abregu’s powerful right hand. In the second round, Abregu immediately went after Davis, hitting him with a big right hand, then another left hook and one more right hand that send Davis down for the second and final time in the fight. Referee Tony Krebs then halted the fight at the urging of Davis’ corner at 0:58 of the second round.

Abregu looked excellent, showing big power, combinations and good accuracy. However, considering how quickly the fight ended and how shot Davis looked as a fighter, it’s hard to tell for sure how good Abregu. Davis came into the fight having lost three out of his last four fights and wasn’t a good yardstick to measure how good Abregu is as a fighter.

Up to this point, Abregu hasn’t fought anyone of note, and Davis, as bad as he looked, was probably the best opponent he’s ever fought up to this point in his career. Abregu needs to consider moving up against a tougher class of competition because he can’t be learning much from taking out the 3rd tier fighters that he’s been facing.

Abregu’s power, though, seems very much real, and if he can land his shots against one of the better fighters in the division, I can see him scoring a knockout much like he did against Davis. His speed isn’t all that great, but his power may more than make up for it, however.