Tsendbataar Erdenebat is making a name for himself as a legit prospect.

Erdenebat stopped fringe contender Yohan Vazquez in round eight Saturday night at Sony Hall in New York City. Erdenebat, who is originally from Tsetserleg, Mongolia and now lives and trains in the Los Angeles area, improved to 8-0, 4 KOs.

The southpaw Erdenebat was the more-effective fighter from the opening bell, outboxing Vazquez and connecting with two and three-punch combinations. Erdenebat rarely stood in front to exchange, moving in to connect, then out of Vazquez’s punching range.

Erdenebat hurt Vazquez with a combination to the head towards the end of the second round. Vazquez almost went down, but was able to stay on his feet, holding at times to eventually make it out of the round. 

During the second half of the fight, Erdenebat increased his aggression, throwing and connecting with lead right hooks or crosses to the head and body. Vazquez’s punch output dropped with each passing round, as he became more defensive or attempted to stay away from Erdenebat’s aggression. 

With less than a minute left in the eighth round, a left uppercut to the stomach forced Vazquez to bend down. Erdenebat followed up with another combination that forced Vazquez to drop to one knee. Vazquez was in pain from the knockdown and had taken a lot of punishment during the last several rounds, forcing referee Jamil Antoine to wave the fight off at 2:29.

“I would like to thank Lou DiBella and Boxing Insider for having me back to headline their Holiday Fight Night card,” said Erdenebat, who is trained by Joe Goossen and Jonathan Walley. “I also want to thank my managers, my whole team, and all of Mongolia, who watched and supported.”

“I came into the fight knowing that I have better skills than Vazquez in all areas, and I wanted to really show that to the opponent in the earlier rounds. I was able to do that, but the opponent took a lot of punishment throughout the contest and wouldn’t go away until the last round. I was a little surprised that the fight wasn’t stopped earlier because he was taking so much punishment, especially to the body.”

Promoter Lou DiBella was very impressed by Erdenebat’s performance. 

“Tsendy has ‘it’ factor,” said DiBella, who is the President of DiBella Entertainment. “He rumbles, takes chances, and entertains. He was in very tough, battled not making weight, gave much of his purse to his opponent, created too much drama, and still looked great. He’s a problem at 130-135 pounds. If he develops more discipline and settles down, the ‘Mongolian Mole’ has a very high ceiling.”

Erdenebat, a two-time Olympian, fought at a career-high 139 pounds. A majority of his fights thus far as a pro have been fought between 130 and 135 pounds. 

In his previous fight on September 24, the 27-year-old defeated once-beaten Wensong Liu by split-decision in a fight he dominated from start to finish. 

Vazquez, who is originally from the Dominican Republic and now resides in nearby The Bronx, New York, falls to 25-5, 20 KOs. The 29-year-old entered the Erdenebat fight at 136 pounds and has now lost his last three fights. 

In junior middleweight action, Cesar Francis stopped Windry Amaris Martinez in the second round.

Francis (13-2, 8 KOs) backed Martinez in a corner, unleashing a barrage of punches to the head and body. Martinez almost went down, but was held up by a bottom rope, prompting referee Eddie Claudio to correctly administer a standing eight-count. Claudio checked on Martinez after the count of ‘8,’ but decided to wave the fight off at 2:12.

The 33-year-old Francis fights at 140 pounds. He is originally from Panama and currently resides in nearby Brooklyn.

Martinez, who resides in Bonao in the Dominican Republic, dropped to 9-2, 5 KOs. 

Heavyweight Fernely Feliz, Jr. of Bethel, Connecticut improved to 7-0, 6 KOs, stopping North Carolina’s Raphael Carolina (2-4, 1 KO) at 1:11 of the sixth round. 

The card was promoted by Boxing Insider.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing