SAN DIEGO – The union between Diego Pacheco and Jose Benavidez Sr. is off to a flying start.

South Central’s Pacheco remained perfect as a pro, flattening Genc ‘The Sexy Albanian’ in the second round of their preliminary bout fought just above the super middleweight limit. Pacheco scored knockdowns in rounds one and two, the latter prompting an immediate stoppage at 1:29 of round two Saturday evening at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.

The fight was the first for Pacheco since joining the camp of the Benavidez family earlier this year. Pacheco—one of the game’s most promising young prospects—insisted that he would put on a body-punching clinic and show off the work that came with training alongside former two-time WBC super middleweight titlist David Benavidez among other all-stars in camp.

Pacheco remained true to his word, though it wasn’t entirely necessary. Pllana—a fun, if limited, Albanian slugger from Hagerstown, Maryland, came out throwing wide punches and showing little regard for defense. Pacheco was able to land nearly at will, flooring Pllana (9-4-1, 5KOs) early in the opening round.

The one sided affair carried over into round two, though with Pllana on borrowed time. Pacheco (14-0, 11KOs) was dialed in, landing everything with precision in setting up the fight ending blow—a left hook along the ropes that folded Pllana. Referee Jerry Cantu halted the contest before finishing his count, out of concern for Pllana’s immediate well-being.

Pacheco has now scored knockout wins in each of his last three starts.

Pacheco-Pllana aired live on DAZN’s ‘Before The Bell’ series, preceding the main card on DAZN. In the evening’s main event, former four-division champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (50-3, 41KOs) faces WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar ‘El Rey’ Martinez (18-1, 14KOs; 2ND) whose title is not at stake.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox