James knocks out Montes in two; Monroe outboxes Maciel

One punch is all it took for Jamal James, who enjoyed a little hometown cooking as he knocked out Mahonry Montes with a left hook to the liver in the second round of their main event at the Minneapolis Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on a Premier Boxing Champions card on Fox Sports 1.

James (24-1, 11 KO's), a 30-year-old welterweight contender who was born and raised in Minneapolis, has won four consecutive bouts since dropping a 10-round unanimous decision in August 2016 to Cuban prospect Yordenis Ugas. Out of those four wins, two have come by way of knockout, and both have come via a left hook to the liver. James knocked out former 147-pound world title contender Diego Chaves in the third round of an FS1 televised fight last December.

Mexico's Montes (35-8-1, 24 KO's), 28, has lost three of his last six fights, and Saturday's loss marked the third time in his 11-year professional career that he has been knocked out.

In the co-main event, ex-middleweight title contender Willie Monroe Jr. (23-3, 6 KO's) easily outboxed Argentinian Javier Francisco Maciel (33-7, 23 KO's) to a unanimous decision victory in a scheduled 10-round affair.

Two judges scored the bout 100-90, a shutout, while one judge gave Maciel a single round for a 99-91 score.