Leo Santa Cruz Beats Chris Avalos via TKO in 8th Round After Referee Stoppage

Leo Santa Cruz defeated Chris Avalos via technical knockout in the eighth round due to referee stoppage Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, to retain the WBA (Super) Featherweight title.

By virtue of the victory, Santa Cruz improved to 34-1-1 in 36 professional fights, while Avalos dropped to a 27-6 mark.

The official stepped in to stop the fight in the midst of a barrage from Santa Cruz to Avalos in the eighth round after the underdog took a beating throughout the fight.

Although Avalos was displeased with the decision, Santa Cruz was in firm control of the bout.

Santa Cruz imposed his will on Avalos from start to finish and nearly floored his overmatched opponent in the fourth round, as seen in this video courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions:

While Avalos was able to remain on his feet and continue, it was clear that Santa Cruz was operating at an entirely different level.

Saturday's bout was so one-sided that Chris McKenna of the Daily Star questioned why it was ever made in the first place:

The 29-year-old Santa Cruz was long expected to defend the title against Abner Mares, but a failure to reach an agreement instead resulted in them facing different opponents on the same card.

Santa Cruz experienced a long layoff prior to Saturday's bout, as he last competed in January when he defeated Carl Frampton to win back the WBA (Super) Featherweight title.

El Terremoto dropped that title to Frampton in July 2016, but after beating Frampton in the rematch, he entered Saturday as the prohibitive favorite.

Avalos, 27, was a surprising choice as Santa Cruz's opponent since he had lost three of his previous five fights before Saturday's contest, including a TKO loss at the hands of Frampton.

The Ring didn't even rank Avalos among the top 10 featherweights in the world ahead of his clash with Santa Cruz.

The Hitman had 20 wins by way of knockout to his credit, however, which made him a potentially dangerous opponent for Santa Cruz in the event he could catch Santa Cruz on the chin with one of his powerful shots.

While Santa Cruz was focused on Avalos leading up to the fight, he fielded no shortage of questions regarding what his future holds.

According to ESPN Deportes (h/t Miguel Rivera of BoxingScene.com), he had his eye on big fights in the featherweight division but was also giving consideration to moving up in weight: "I think that I still have time at featherweight. I want to do some more fights. After this fight we want to go fight with the best ... Mares, Frampton, Oscar Valdez, Gary Russell, Lee Selby, any of those fighters ... and if we do not reach an agreement [with any of them], then we are going to 130 pounds."

In the aftermath of his win, Santa Cruz is bound to be peppered with questions about a long-awaited rematch with Mares, who impressively defeated Andres Gutierrez earlier in the night.

There is enough talent within the featherweight division to warrant staying at that weight even if another Mares bout doesn't come to fruition, but Santa Cruz promises to be a draw regardless of what his next step is.