Rances Barthelemy expected more resistance from his opponent, but he solved him in just five minutes. The former world champion added the second victory of the season on the undercard of this past Saturday's big event at the MGM Grand in las Vegas, which saw Saúl “Canelo'' Alvarez stop Caleb Plant to become the undisputed champion at super middleweight.

Barthelemy took down Gustavo David Vittori (25-10-1, 12KO) by technical knockout in the second round with a mixture of technique and power.

"I expected a little more from my opponent, I had prepared myself for an all-out war," Barthelemy said to George Ebro. “I think the key was my camp, because I got into the ring with a lot of energy and things turned out better than I expected. With a win like that, I'll be ready for anything.''

The boxer's manager, Luis DeCubas Jr., asked him to keep training because all possible efforts would be made to find a spot on one of the Premier Boxing Champions cards between now and January 1. If fighting twice this year has been something very positive for Barthelemey, a third fight in 12 months would not be a bad thing for someone who fought only once in 2019 and in 2020 was unable to see action due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Those were tough moments, because the fight with Alberto Puello was brewing and he fell out for various reasons, so we were left with the desire of that meeting," said Barthelemy. "But now everything seems to be able to improve as normal."

In their previous fight, the former two-division world champion defeated Filipino All Rivera by unanimous decision in a 10-round contest that headlined PBC's Boxing Night on FS1 and FOX Deportes, from the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

That clash was an intermediate step before a fight for the "interim" World Boxing Association belt at 140 pounds against Puello that Barthelemy had been waiting for a long time because it would be his best chance of becoming the first Cuban fighter in history with title in three different divisions.

However, Puello was stripped of his interim-championship by the World Boxing Association, due to a resolution by the WBA to reduce their number of titles.

"I already told my team that I don't want to waste any more time, that I want to go for big things," added Barthelemy. "I do not have time to waste."