Ernesto “Tito” Mercado set his sights on becoming the first man to stop Juan Carlos Burgos on Friday night.

And he did just that, knocking out Burgos in the second round on the undercard of a Misfits Pro card at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. Ashton Sylve is scheduled to face former junior lightweight champion JoJo Diaz in at 10-round junior welterweight main event.

Mercado (19-0, 18 KOs), who has now won eight consecutive fights, is ranked in the top 10 by three of the four sanctioning bodies at 140 pounds.

Burgos (36-9-3, 22 KOs), who fought for world titles at featherweight and junior lightweight, had lost to the likes of Andy Cruz, Keyshawn Davis, Devin Haney and Mikey Garcia but heard the final bell each time.

On Friday, the skill gap was evident from the beginning. Mercado, of Upland, California, walked Burgos down and kept him pinned against the ropes and battered him to the head and body. Mercado’s speed advantage was also clear as he moved in and out of range without getting caught by the 38-year-old Burgos.

The damage accumulated quickly. Late in the second round, Mercado, 24, landed a short right hand and left hook that dropped Burgos. The Mexican was in clear discomfort but beat referee Ray Corona’s count.

Mercado then walked Burgos into a neutral corner and landed a big straight right hand that sent him to the canvas again, and he was unable to beat Corona’s count.

In other preliminary bouts:

10 rounds, lightweight: Devin Cushing (19-0, 14 KOs) def. J’Hon Ingram (9-1, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision (97-93, 97-93, 97-93)

10 rounds, middleweight: Amir Anderson (8-0, 7 KOs) def. Jonas Sylvain (9-1-1, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision (100-89, 100-89, 100-89)

8 rounds, welterweight: David Lopez (9-0, 7 KOs) def. Joey Borrero (12-3, 9 KOs) by first-round TKO

4 rounds, super flyweight: Kayla Gomez (1-0) def. Shayntain Creer (0-1) by unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36, 40-36)