Brad Rea drops and stops Ezra Taylor in round two to keep WBA Inter-Continental title
Taylor got back up from a knockdown early in the second, but Rea's next combination ended it at 58 seconds of the round and handed him a second straight defeat.
Brad Rea stopped Ezra Taylor in the second round in Manchester on Saturday night to retain his WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title, on the undercard of Joshua Buatsi's rematch with Willy Hutchinson for the vacant WBC title.
Rea dropped Taylor early in the second round. Taylor got back up but was unsteady on his feet, and another combination from Rea ended it at 58 seconds of the round, with referee Michael Alexander stopping the fight as Taylor went down.
The win moves Rea to 23-2 with 12 knockouts. Taylor, who won his first 13 professional fights, has now lost twice in a row and is 13-2.
Taylor's first defeat came on points against Hutchinson in March. Rea had warned before the fight that he expected a better version of Taylor after that loss, and said at Thursday's press conference that he was coming to try to knock him out.
Rea said after the fight: "I feel like I've grown into the weight now." He added: "I know I don't look it, but I can punch."
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