Dorticos lived up to his ferocious reputation in some style in his opening bout at the World Boxing Super Series.

Cuban Yunier Dorticos can punch as hard as any cruiserweight in the world right now and showed it last night in San Antonio, Texas against Russian opponent Dmitry Kudryashov.

His right hand proved to be the finisher in only the second round of the fight on route to defending his WBA cruiserweight world title.

His unsuspecting opponent did not know what hit him when the finishing moment came:

What a way to open his account in the World Boxing Super Series and stamp his intent on the tournament. The win improved his record to 22-0-21KO.

The 31 year old has impressed in recent times with other notable stoppages against the likes of former challenger Youri Kalenga.

Dorticos has only ever been taken the distance once in his pro career. That occasion came against the always teak tough Edison Miranda back in July of 2014.

The race is on for the Muhammad Ali trophy now in the World Boxing Super Series.

From the cruiserweights’ perspective, Dorticos will have surely moved up the pecking order in terms of who people will think the eventual winner will be.

His team no doubt will be backing their man big time:

(Photo credit: Francisco Perez / Ringstar Sports)