LAS VEGAS – Jesus Ramos redeemed himself Saturday night in the same arena where he suffered his lone loss.

The 23-year-old southpaw stopped former junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario in the eighth round on the David Benavidez-David Morrell Jr. undercard at T-Mobile Arena. Ramos regularly landed to the taller, right-handed Rosario’s body because Rosario has had difficulty dealing with body blows during his career.

The younger, fresher fighter also dropped Rosario with a vicious two-punch combination during the seventh round. Referee Robert Hoyle stopped the action at 2:18 of the eighth round after Ramos blasted Rosario with a punishing right hook to his head.

Rosario remained on his feet when Hoyle halted their bout. He wanted to continue, but Hoyle humbly informed he had just taken too many flush punches.

Ramos (22-1, 18 KOs), of Casa Grande, Arizona, won where he lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Erickson Lubin on the Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo undercard in September 2023.

“It feels great,” Ramos told PBC’s Brian Campbell in the ring. “I was hoping to get a knockout instead of a TKO, but anything works. I’m just glad me and my opponent were able to get out of the ring safe … and just go home to our families. That’s the most important thing.”

The Ring ranked Ramos most recently at No. 9 in its top 10 for junior middleweight contenders. His victory over the Dominican Republic’s Rosario (24-5-2, 18 KOs) was contested at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds to accommodate Rosario.

Rosario, 29, lost by knockout or technical knockout for the fifth time in 11 years as a pro.

The former IBF/IBO/WBA 154-pound champion prematurely announced his retirement following a brutal fifth-round knockout defeat to Brian Mendoza in November 2022 at The Armory in Minneapolis. He fought once apiece in 2023 and 2024, when Rosario fought to a 10-round split draw with fellow former junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd on August 21 in Plant City, Florida.

A ringside physician took a close look at Rosario before the eighth round began, which in part explained why Hoyle stopped their fight when he did.

Ramos sent Rosario to the canvas with a left-right combination when there were just under 30 seconds to go in the seventh round. Rosario pounded his gloves on the canvas in frustration, but he beat Hoyle’s count and fired enough back at Ramos to avoid getting knocked out.

Rosario hit Ramos after the bell sounded to end the seventh round, which angered Ramos.

A left uppercut by Ramos, followed by a right uppercut, backed Rosario into the ropes barely 30 seconds into the sixth round. Rosario withstood that trouble and continued to fight Ramos on the inside.

A straight left by Ramos backed up Rosario with just under 40 seconds to go in the fifth round. Rosario hit the canvas late in the fifth round, but Hoyle rightly ruled Ramos pushed him down.

A right-left combination by Ramos landed with just over a minute on the clock in the fourth round.

The left landed to the head by Ramos, followed by his right hook to the body, was the most impressive sequence of the third round for either fighter.

Hoyle warned Rosario for a low blow just after the halfway point of the second round. Ramos landed a left uppercut several seconds earlier.

Ramos landed several left hands during a first round during which he controlled the distance and pace.