The Ring's No. 5 lightweight contender and 2021 Olympic gold medalist made minced meat of Montoya, as the Cuban connected with right-hand missiles just before the bell sounded in the second round to score a knockdown.

Montoya was able to pick himself off the canvas only to get crushed in the opening minute of the third round, forcing referee Thomas Taylor to stop the action 54 seconds in as he ate unanswered punches in the corner.

Cruz's speed was vastly superior to the slower Montoya, outlanding him 63-16.

Cruz (7-1, 4 KOs) returned to the win column after a majority-decision defeat during a title shot against IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla in January.

Cruz had to settle for a scrap against Montoya (24-8-1, 14 KOs) after Albert Bell, his original opponent, was pulled out of their IBF title eliminator to fight WBO lightweight champion earlier this month in a losing effort.

Cruz can now move on to more meaningful matchups across multiple divisions. He said during his post-fight remarks that he's also open to fights at 130 pounds.

Cruz-Montoya served as the co-main event for a Matchroom Boxing show on DAZN headlined by the super middleweight scrap between Diego Pacheco and Immanuwel Aleem.

Standout featherweight Albert "Chop Chop" Gonzalez passed the toughest test of his five-year career with ease by knocking out former title challenger Aaron Alameda in the second round.

Gonzalez, a 24-year-old Southern California native coached by Robert Garcia, connected with a series of unanswered head and body shots that proved to be too much for Alameda, who was counted out at 1:52.

Gonzalez (18-0, 10 KOs) was credited with landing 22 punches in the efficient demolition job, while Alameda (31-3, 18 KOs) mustered just two punches that connected, according to CompuBox.

Gonzalez also became the first to stop Alameda, 32, whose previous losses were against Luis Nery and Angelo Leo in competitive decisions.

During his post-fight remarks, Gonzalez declared he was world-title ready and called out 126-pound champions Leo, Bruce Carrington, Rafael Espinoza and Brandon Figueroa.

Bruno Rios and Saul Sanchez engaged in an entertaining bantamweight brawl. It was the fast-rising Rios who outslugged the more seasoned Sanchez to score a unanimous decision via scores of 96-93, 96-93, 95-94.

The bout was a seesaw battle, capped by Sanchez (21-5-1, 12 KOs), a former world title challenger, rocking Rios (9-0, 7 KOs) with a left hook for a second-round knockdown. But the 20-year-old Compton native bounced back to edge several close rounds the rest of the way to sneak by with the win.

CompuBox credited Rios with connecting with 155 of 564 punches, and Sanchez with 152 of 427.

Rios, a 20-year-old pro of three years, had only fought past the second round once. But he seriously stepped up his competition in his first scheduled 10-rounder against Sanchez, whose recent losses had come against Jason Moloney and John Riel Casimero.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan