Manfredo (31-5, 16 KOs) electrified the local fight fans by flooring McCrary with a vicious left hook a little over a minute into the second round. McCrary soon returned to his feet, but when he helplessly absorbed three more punches from Manfredo, referee Joe Lupino quickly stepped in between the fighters and stopped the bout at 1:24.

"(McCrary) took a big shot, he answered my commands, and he came forward," remarked Lupino. "He was still a little wobbly and defenseless. He took a couple of shots and he was still doing stuttersteps, so I jumped in and stopped it. Any more punishment would have been unjust."

"He was one big shot away from me having a spectacular knockout," noted Manfredo, who is ranked 20th in the World Boxing Council. "I think I was robbed of that and the fans were robbed of that and that's why they were booing. But I like the kid, Donny McCrary's a good kid, and maybe he would have gotten seriously hurt if I landed another big hook. I always believe everything happens for a reason, so as long as he's OK, I'm OK."

"Donny has a lot more than what he showed tonight," added Manfredo. "But when I'm on, I'm on, and tonight, I was definitely on. I've been on for the past eight months and I'm not stopping here. I'm on a mission, and this is just phase one. We're going to get another couple fights, and hopefully, another big title shot."

All in all, it was a superb night for Manfredo's Gym on Conant Street in Pawtucket, as all three of trainer Peter Manfredo Sr.'s fighters came away with convincing victories.

Junior middleweight Jesus Caro of Providence got the Manfredo's Gym stable off to a rousing start in his four-round test against Clarence Smith of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was making his pro debut. Caro, who won his pro debut on May 17 with an opening-round TKO of Levaniel King in Dorchester, Mass., also put away Smith with ease by scoring a crowd-pleasing TKO just 2:01 into their bout.

Unbeaten middleweight sensation Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez of Worcester, Mass. followed Caro's performance with a dominant unanimous-decision victory over Marcus Upshaw (8-3, 3 KOs) of Jacksonville, Fla. in their six-round battle. Rodriguez, a two-time U.S. National amateur champion who turned pro in mid-January, ran his record to 8-0 (5 KOs) by sweeping Upshaw (the nephew of the late NFLPA union head Gene Upshaw) by three scores of 60-54.

The co-feature was also the grudge match of the night, pitting Providence's Joey "The K.O. Kid" Spina against Las Vegas' Jim "Steel Chin" Strohl (27-6, 21 KOs) in a six-round super middleweight fight. Spina, who trained in Las Vegas in '06 and ’07 and was familiar with Strohl, scored a second-round TKO over his nemesis that was almost identical to Manfredo's knockout and raised his record to 23-1-1 (16 KOs).

Both fighters weren't cordial with each other at Thursday's weigh-in, and their harsh feelings toward each other continued when they stepped into the ring and exchanged unpleasant greetings. But Spina, who is ranked 12th in the World Boxing Council, drew first blood in the opening seconds of the second round with a vicious left hook that sent Strohl (27-7, 21 KOs) to the canvas. Strohl staggered as he got back to his feet, but was allowed to continue to fight, and Spina quickly put him away with two swift combinations to Strohl's face that splattered blood across the ring and ended the bout at 52 seconds.

Also on the undercard, Johnston middleweight Angel Camacho Jr. remained unbeaten in 11 fights (5 KOs) by producing a six-round unanimous-decision triumph over Ariel Espinal (6-4-2, 2 KOs) of Brooklyn, N.Y. via the Dominican Republic. Camacho Jr. won by scores of 60-54, 58-56, and 59-55.

In a spirited six-round super middleweight fight, fan favorite Richard "Bobo" Starnino of Providence and "Irish" Joey McCreedy battled to a majority draw. Starnino (9-4-2, 2 KOs) was a winner on one card (58-57), but he and McCreedy (8-2-1, 5 KOs) were even on the other two (57-57).

Junior welterweight Omar Pena of Providence, a nine-time New England Golden Gloves champion who was making his pro debut, overcame a pair of knockdowns to battle Rasool Shakoor (1-3-1, 1 KO) of Jackson, Miss. to a four-round majority draw (38-36, 37-37, 37-37), and CES's newest addition, former world featherweight title challenger Sandy "Lil’ Tyson" Tasgouris of Toronto, improved to 8-1 (3 KOs) by posting a unanimous decision victory (58-55, 58-55, 58-55) over Adawirky Lopez (1-1) of Tampa, Fla.