Ryan Garcia scored a stunning first-round knockout of Romero Duno on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The highly rated 21-year-old made a decent statement, silencing some doubters on the undercard of his gymmate Canelo Alvarez’s bout against Sergey Kovalev.

💥KING RY'S KO POWER😱

UFC 259 Final Betting Odds. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 02: Ryan Garcia poses after defeating Romero Duno in a lightweight. 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Garcia won with a first-round. Kovalev 2019.11.02 Las Vegas, Nevada Discussion Main Card GBP Championship 135 lbs Ryan Garcia defeats Romero Duno via KO/TKO at 1:38 of Round 1. Garcia remains undefeated as a professional, stopping 3 of his last 5 opponents. In his last fight, he won against Romero Duno on 2nd November 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

Cejudo vs Garcia Odds Analysis It should probably come as no surprise that the undefeated 20-0 boxer with 17 knockouts would be a four-figure favorite. What may be a little shocking is that -1000 would be the second-shortest odds that KingRy has faced with only his WBC Silver lightweight title fight with Romero Duno having closer odds. Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev, Ryan Garcia vs. Romero Duno fights: Live stream, start time, odds, betting Posted Nov 02, 2019 Canelo Alvarez, left, and Sergey Kovalev, right (AP Photo/John.

👑@KingRyanG showed his class against Romero Duno with a blistering 1st round knockout 👊 pic.twitter.com/w5l2XurgSF

— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) November 3, 2019

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Garcia vs Duno was initially touted to take place at late-notice in September after Garcia’s original opponent Avery Sparrow was arrested on fight week.

A public spat followed between the American and his promoters Golden Boy, which was ultimately resolved by him signing a new deal with them and agreeing to take on Duno now.

Some fans accused Garcia of swerving his rival, and the pair exchanged plenty of talk pre-fight.

However, when the bell rang Garcia jumped straight on Duno and was quickly firing off combinations.

With over a minute left in the first, he landed a right hand to the temple which flattened his opponent and ended the fight.

LAS VEGAS – Ryan Garcia emphatically answered his enormous army of critics Saturday night.

The popular, polarizing prospect impressively knocked out Romero Duno in the first round of their scheduled 10-round lightweight bout. Duno was supposed to provide the toughest test of the 21-year-old Garcia’s career on the Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Instead, Garcia knocked down Duno with a perfectly placed right hand to the temple. Duno fell to the seat of his trunks.

The Filipino fighter attempted to get up, but referee Tony Weeks wisely stopped their fight 1:38 into the first round.

“I feel good,” Garcia told DAZN’s Chris Mannix after his knockout win. “It’s kind of what I expected, like I said. But all respect to Duno. He came to fight. He came in shape. He caught me with that overhand right. You seen right on the chin, and I took it. And then, from there, I knew I could just keep taking ‘em and keep coming at him. So, when I took his best shot, I felt good. I was like, ‘All right, I got him.’ ”

Garcia (19-0, 16 KOs), of Victorville, California, won the vacant WBC silver lightweight title. He also took the NABO 135-pound championship from Duno (21-2, 16 KOs).

Garcia Vs Duno Vegas Odds Nfl Week 11

Duno’s only previous loss was an eight-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Mikhail Alexeev (12-1, 4 KOs) in May 2016.

Garcia could’ve fought Duno seven weeks before Saturday night, but he understandably turned down Duno as an extremely late replacement for Avery Sparrow in mid-September. Philadelphia’s Sparrow (10-1, 3 KOs, 1 NC) was arrested the day before he was supposed to box Garcia on September 14 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Duno was already scheduled to box Ivan Delgado on that card, but Duno and Garcia’s handlers at Golden Boy Promotions wanted to put together a Garcia-Duno bout once the Garcia-Sparrow fight fell apart.

Youtube Boxing Garcia Vs Duno

Once Golden Boy made it known Garcia didn’t want to fight Duno on short notice, it caused a brief rift between Garcia and his promoters. Garcia signed a contract extension with Golden Boy, though, and quickly agreed to fight Duno on Saturday night.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.