Heavyweight prospect Joe Joyce scores seventh consecutive KO

LOS ANGELES — Seven fights, seven knockouts for Joe Joyce.

Joyce knocked out Joe Hanks in the first round Saturday at Staples Center in the preliminary bout to Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury.

Joyce, 33, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist representing the United Kingdom, hurt Hanks with a jab and finished him off with a monstrous left hook. Hanks tried to get up, but after collapsing to the canvas for a second time, referee Jerry Cantu stopped the fight at 2:25.

Although Joyce is off to a hot start as a professional, his opposition thus far has not been imposing.

Hanks (23-3, 15 KO's), 35, of Newark, New Jersey, has lost three of his last five fights, including a KO loss to former world title challenger Andy Ruiz Jr.