Shakur Stevenson stopped Felix Caraballo with a brutal body shot to cap a successful return for boxing in Las Vegas.

Promoter Bob Arum was staging the first boxing event in the city since the coronavirus pandemic as he followed UFC promoter Dana White in bringing combat sports back to the United States.

And in the main event 22-year-old prodigy Stevenson did not disappoint as he knocked Caraballo down in the opening round before the fight was stopped in the sixth after a crushing left-hand to the stomach.

Speaking after the fight, he said: "I came here to get him out of there. My mindset was focused on getting him out of there.

"I hit him with everything I could early, I wobbled him a bunch of times, and I started realising the head shots weren't going to do it, so I went to the body.

"It's a different atmosphere. Losing the weight was different, training was different, I couldn't be around nobody. 

"And the fighting crowd is different, I hit him with mean shots and there's no oohs and aahs."

The event came just over a week after White returned with the first fights back in Vegas on May 31 when Tyron Woodley was stunned by Gilbert Burns.

Stevenson, who currently holds the WBO Featherweight Title, has been linked with a unification fight against Britain’s Josh Warrington.

The American now holds a perfect professional record of 14 wins from 14 fights.