Prior to Saturday night, Vergil Ortiz Jr. had produced all of his 19 victories by stoppage at welterweight.
And now, he has his first stoppage in the junior middleweight division, too.
In his return to the ring, Ortiz delivered a first-round TKO of Fredrick Lawson at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, and live on DAZN.
The 25-year-old Ortiz stunned Lawson with a stiff power jab to the temple, before swarming him with unanswered shots, which led referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight just 2:30 into the bout.
There was no doubt that Ortiz hurt Lawson with the jab but the veteran was defending Ortiz's barrage well and looked more than game to continue fighting, leading the Vegas crowd to boo and criticize Weeks' decision to stop the bout early. Weeks told DAZN's Beto Duran that he stopped the fight because he saw Lawson's eyes roll into the back of his head.
"I think that he got saved," Ortiz told DAZN about the early stoppage win over Lawson. "I was hurting him with all the jabs. I wasn't really putting anything behind it."
Although Ortiz improved to 20-0, having produced his 20th knockout, he would have ideally liked to bank more rounds, especially considering August 2022 was the last time he fought before this.
"I wish I could have kept going," Ortiz conceded. "I need the rounds, but hey, I was hurting him with the jab. I stunned him with the jab and I didn't even land it that hard, I'm sorry. Hey, I'm ready for anyone out there."
Despite barely breaking a sweat, Ortiz was glad to have returned to the ring following his lengthy layoff.
"This is my calling," he said. "This is what I live for."
Here's how the entire Ortiz vs. Lawson main card on DAZN went.