By Keith Idec

Hard Rock, Atlantic City - In the final bout before HBO’s broadcast, Kazakhstan’s Meiirim Nursultanov stopped the Dominican Republic’s Jonathan Batista after two rounds in a middleweight match that was scheduled for eight rounds.

Nursultanov (8-0, 7 KOs) knocked down Batista (17-15, 10 KOs) with a body shot in the second round. Batista’s corner men stopped the fight following the second round.

Later on the undercard, lightweight Karl Dargan ended a 3½-year layoff by out-boxing Jonathan Perez in an uneventful six-rounder.

Philadelphia’s Dargan (18-1, 9 KOs) used his faster hands and athleticism to pepper Perez with jabs and right hands, and won by the same score, 60-54, on all three scorecards. Colombia’s Perez (37-22, 29 KOs, 1 NC) has lost seven of his past eight fights.

Dargan fought for the first time since losing a 10-round unanimous decision to Tony Luis in January 2015. Canada’s Luis (25-3, 8 KOs) dropped Dargan in the 10th round of that fight and won comfortably (99-90, 97-92, 97-92).

Following Douglin’s win, Kazakhstan’s Madiyar Ashkeyev improved to 10-0 and recorded his sixth knockout by stopping Ecuador’s Eduardo Flores in the fourth round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Flores fell to 26-30-4 overall and 1-7-1 in his past nine fights.

Later Saturday night, Russian junior middleweight Bakhram Murtazaliev needed just 41 second to knock out Mexico’s Fernando Carcamo in a fight that was scheduled for 10 rounds.

Murtazaliev (13-0, 11 KOs) buckled Carcamo legs with a left hook about 20 seconds into their fight. A crushing overhand right by Murtazaliev sent Carcamo (23-9, 18 KOs) to the canvas and ended their fight in the first round.

After Murtazaliev’s blowout win, Brooklyn junior middleweight Frank Galarza knocked down Brazil’s Alex Duarte twice in the second round and won by second-round technical knockout. Their bout, which also was scheduled for 10 rounds, ended at 1:57 of the second round.

Galarza upped his record to 20-2-2 and produced his 12th knockout. Duarte (13-6-1, 10 KOs) lost a fifth straight fight, all by knockout.