OAKLAND, Calif. -- In HBO's perfect world, the winner of the fight between lightweight titlist Antonio DeMarco and mandatory challenger John Molina would come out of Saturday's fight in good shape, with no bumps or bruises, able to get back in the ring Nov. 3 to defend against Adrien Broner, who has a date from the network but no opponent.
DeMarco made that possible in emphatic fashion, stopping Molina in just 44 seconds at the Oracle Arena on the Andre Ward-Chad Dawson undercard.
What many considered to be an evenly matched, potentially exciting fight was over just like that.
DeMarco, making his second title defense, rocked Molina with a straight left hand almost immediately, sending him staggering into the ropes. Molina covered up in the corner and tried to avoid the shots by bending over, but DeMarco continued to fire with abandon.
He landed more than a dozen unanswered blows, forcing referee Jack Reiss to step in and stop the fight.
"I've been working on this for a long time. We've been working very hard," DeMarco said. "Molina is a very strong man. I am a totally different man inside the ring. I hurt people, and I jump on them."
It was a stunning end for Molina (24-2, 19 KOs), 29, of Covina, Calif., whose six-fight winning streak came to an end without a sweat being broken.
"He got caught in the first round with a left. He got buzzed," said Joe Goossen, Molina's trainer. "Then DeMarco threw a lot of punches. John should have taken a knee, but it's hard to think when you're in a position like that."
DeMarco (28-2-1, 21 KOs), 26, of Mexico, dispensed with the drama that he needed to win the title. He won his 135-pound belt in comeback fashion in October when, trailing widely on the scorecards through 10 rounds, he rallied to stop a badly bleeding Jorge Linares for the upset victory.
He made his first defense in March, at home in Mexico, scoring a fifth-round knockout of Miguel Roman.
"I am very willing to fight Broner," DeMarco said. "That will be a great fight. I'll fight him tomorrow if he wants."
HBO senior vice president Kery Davis said he would try to finalize the DeMarco-Broner fight with the promoters as soon as possible.
Scott wins snoozer
Philadelphia heavyweight Malik Scott (35-0, 12 KOs), 31, scored a rare stoppage victory, scoring a seventh-round TKO of Los Angeles' Bowie Tupou (22-1, 16 KOs) when Tupou injured his left elbow and couldn't continue 52 seconds into the round.
It had been a woefully miserable fight until that point -- like most Scott fights -- with few punches being swapped.
The crowd booed continually throughout the fight, as it lacked any semblance of action. Scott was doing as he pleased and was in control as he continued to improve a record built against lesser competition -- although Tupou, 30, arguably was the best opponent of his career.
• Cincinnati welterweight Ricardo Williams Jr. (20-3, 10 KOs), a 2000 U.S. Olympic silver medalist and massive pro bust after signing a seven-figure contract and landing in prison on drug distribution convictions, claimed a six-round majority decision win against Anthony Lenk (14-2, 7 KOs), of Los Angeles.
It was a crowd-pleasing fight, but Williams -- faster and a more accurate puncher -- got the better of the action and was rewarded by two of the judges, 58-56 each, while the third judge had it 57-57.
Williams had Lenk in trouble at the end of the fifth round, when he was rocking him with a two-fisted attack. But Lenk was game and landed his own solid shots in the sixth and final round.
• Indianapolis heavyweight Franklin "Yah Yah" Lawrence (18-2-2, 13 KOs) beat up on Homero Fonseca (9-6-3, 2 KOs) of Peirsaw, Texas, for seven uneventful rounds until the fight was called off at the end of the round. Lawrence swelled up out-of-shape Fonseca's face round after round in what amounted to target practice.