Arias stops Magomedov in fifth

LAS VEGAS - In his first fight on the big stage, middleweight Luis Arias of Milwaukee beat Arif Magomedov in a fifth-round knockout Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The bout was the opener of an HBO payper-view event headlined by the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev rematch.

Arias (18-0) had built his record with relative ease. Magomedov, a worthy opponent, fell to 18-2.

In the main event, Ward vowed he would leave no doubt this time around and he didn’t, stopping Kovalev in the eighth round to win their light heavyweight title rematch.

Ward turned the fight around with a big right hand that wobbled Kovalev, then swarmed all over him. Kovalev was in the neutral corner and Ward was landing shots to the body when Kovalev sat on the ring rope and referee Tony Weeks signaled an end to the bout at 2:29 of the eighth.

In another undercard match, WBA interim light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol won by technical knockout in the fourth round against Cedric Agnew.