Brandun Lee is clearly ready for the next level.

The fourth and final fight of 2020 for the rising junior welterweight prospect ended the same as most of his recent nights, with an early destruction of an overmatched foe. The latest came in a 3rd round stoppage of Dakota Linger in their preliminary bout Saturday evening at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

An accumulation of punches—punctuated by a left hook—forced a questionable stoppage at 1:17 of round three.

Lee hasn’t seen the 4th round since his ninth pro fight but came out at a measured pace in Saturday’s prelim bout versus Linger, a 26-year old from West Virginia whose lone selling point was his toughness. It wasn’t any problem for Lee, who punched with precision and not expending any energy in the opening round.

Linger managed to get in his fair share of heavy shots in round two, though nothing that prompted a momentum shift of any kind. Lee took the punches well, responding in kind with ripping left hooks to the body and combination punching upstairs.

The intensity was dialed up in round three, with Lee connecting with a heavy right hand and left hook to the exposed chin of Linger. It proved to serve as the beginning of the end, as an ensuing left hook by Lee prompted what many deemed to be a premature stoppage by referee Danny Schiavone.

Linger offered an in-ring protest, though to no avail as he falls to 12-5-2 (8KOs).

Lee cruises to 21-0 (19KOs), having now stopped each of his past 12 opponents. The 21-year old from La Quinta, California has scored all 19 career knockouts in three rounds or less.

Benjamin Whitaker claimed his second straight “0” to close out his 2020 campaign. Zsolt Daranyi became the latest victim, as San Antonio’s Whitaker boxed his way to an eight-round majority decision win.

Judge John McKaie scored the contest 76-76, overruled by scores of 77-75 by Glenn Feldman and 79-73 by Peter Hary in favor of Whitaker (15-4, 3KOs) who has now won two straight fights.

Whitaker was undeterred by the glossy record and amateur pedigree boasted by Daranyi (15-1, 14KOs), a 25-year old from Budapest, Hungary who now lives and trains in Toronto, Canada. The bout was fought largely at a boxer’s pace, with neither fighter imposing their will which only proved to hurt Daranyi who struggled to keep up with the more active Whitaker.

Daranyi entered having stopped his past four opponents, though having not fought since July 2018. His unbeaten record was inflated with club-level opposition, finding himself out of his depth against the 36-year old Whitaker who has managed three fights in the past six months. Saturday’s win comes three months after doling out the first career loss to D’Andre Smith this past September in Las Vegas.

The bout aired live on Showtime’s YouTube channel, ahead of a Showtime-televised tripleheader later this evening.

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