By Reynaldo Sanchez

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas - In a battle for the vacant WBA interim-heavyweight title, Luis "King Kong" Ortiz (22-0, 19KOs) stopped previously undefeated Lateef "Power" Kayode (20-1, 16KOs) in the first round. A left hook by Ortiz dropped Kayode in the first minute. At the end of the round, Kayode was rocked by a hard left. This time Ortiz trapped him in the corner and unleashed an arsenal of power punches to force referee Robert Byrd to step in to wave things off. Ortiz now becomes the mandatory challenger to WBA 'regular' heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev. Unified king Wladimir Klitschko is the WBA's "super champion" at the weight.