BROOKLYN – In a redemption bout Polish light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara came from behind to defeat former world champion Chad Dawson by TKO in the 10th and final round of their crossroads match on the Keith Thurman-Danny Garcia undercard. The official time of the stoppage was 30 seconds of Round 10.

Fonfara (29-4, 17 knockouts) came into the final round needing a knockout to win and got it very quickly. A short body shot set up a huge right hand upstairs that hurt Dawson badly. Dawson (34-5, 19 KOs) tried to retreat to corner but Fonfara unleashed a combination of unanswered blows causing the referee to jump in to waive the bout off.

Dawson showed subtle signs of the old “Bad Chad” that fought and beat the likes of Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson twice each and defeated Bernard Hopkins once and earning a draw another time.

Dawson won most of the middle rounds while Fonfara was very apprehensive and tried to rely heavily on his jab. Dawson was content to sit back and land his left counter which found a home each time. Dawson ran out of gas in the ninth round when he bent over and Fonfara caught him with a driving right hand which bounced off Dawson’s head sending him down for the first knockdown of the bout.  Dawson got back up but was too tired to mount any sort of comeback. Fonfara stormed out of his corner to start the tenth round and hurt Dawson immediately with the big right hand.

Fonfara first made a name for himself when he survived an early onslaught from WBC world champion Adonis Stevenson to eventually knock Stevenson down. Although Fonafara lost the decision he became a legitimate contender two fights later when he made Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. quit on his stool in the ninth round.

In a very impressive professional debut at Barclays Center, Brooklyn’s own Richardson Hitchins (1-0, 1 KO) made light work of Mario Perez (1-1) earning a first round TKO victory. The official time of the stoppage was 1:33 of the opening round.

The 19 year-old 2016 Olympian stormed out of the corner to land massive blows on the overmatched Perez who never stood a chance. Hitchins landed a clean right hook to send Perez down for the first knockdown. When Perez beat the count Hitchins charged at him again landing at will sending Perez down a second and final time.

Hitchins represented his parent’s county of Haiti in 2016 Summer games in Rio de Janeiro before deciding to turn pro and sign with Floyd Mayweather’s Mayweather Promotions. The 2-time New York City Golden Gloves champion caught Mayweather’s eye in Rio and said Floyd was true to his word to sign him following the Olympic Games.

“It was great fighting here at Barclays,” said Hitchins immediately after the bout. “But I fought here twice already in the Golden Gloves so I knew what to expect. My goal now to is to stay busy and have 5 fights this year.”

Junior welterweight contender Sergey Lipinets improved to (12-0, 10 KOs) by stopping Clarence Booth (14-3, 7 KOs) with a seventh round TKO victory. The official time of the stoppage was 1:33.

Lipinets dropped Booth early in the seventh round with a heavy-handed right hand. Booth seemed to recover well was forced into the corner by the former kickboxing world champion from Kazakhstan. Lipinets threw a barrage of punched ending with a combination of two right hooks which seemed to only catch leather but the referee seemed intent on stopping the bout much to the chagrin of Booth and the crowd inside Barclays Center.

The 27 year-old Lipinets who now resides in Beverly Hills is trained by Buddy McGirt and is ranked as the No. 1 junior welterweight by the IBF.