PALA INDIAN RESERVATION -- Verno Phillips didn't take long to state his case for a title fight Friday night. The IBF's third-ranked junior middleweight easily dispatched the organization's eighth-ranked contender, Julio Garcia, with a first-round TKO in an IBF elimination bout at the Pala Casino Resort & Spa.
With the win, Phillips (37-9-1, 19 KOs) moved up to the IBF's No. 2 contender spot behind No. 1 Kassim Ouma and champion Winky Wright.
After the fight, the 34-year-old Phillips said he was ready to fight anybody in the division, including Ouma, to whom he lost a 10-round unanimous decision in 2001, and Wright.
"I want to tell the other junior middleweights out there, don't sleep on my age," Phillips said. "I'm coming after them."
Phillips used an uppercut to stun Garcia halfway through the first round Friday, then sent him to the canvas with a right cross.
Garcia got back up, but not for long. Less than 30 seconds later, a right to the body and a left cross floored "The Cuban Lover" again.
Garcia (25-3-2, 11 KOs) took another eight count and came back for more punishment. At that point, he was pretty much defenseless, and Phillips pummeled him until referee Jack Reiss stepped in and ended the fight one second before the end of the first round.
"I knew he'd walk into (the uppercut), because he's a forward fighter," Phillips said. "I knew when I hit him with the uppercut, he was finished. As soon as I catch someone on their chin, they're through."
Phillips said he was surprised at the ease with which he took care of Garcia.
"At first, I thought it would take a couple of rounds to figure him out," the Colorado-based fighter said. "I did nine weeks of hard training in the Rockies of Colorado. My training camp helped me with this win."
In the co-main event, Carlos Quintana took longer than Phillips did to end his bout, but was just as devastating.
The Puerto Rican knocked out Edwin Cassiani 46 seconds into the third round of their welterweight bout that was scheduled for 10 rounds.
Quintana (16-0, 13 KOs) knocked Cassiani down in the first round with a right to the body and a left cross to the chin.
Cassiani (26-4, 22 KOs) got back up and survived that round and one more, but couldn't get out of the third. After the fighters exchanged a flurry of blows, Quintana connected with a right-left combination to send Cassiani down again.
The Miami-based fighter tried to get up, but referee Pat Russell motioned him to stay down, which he did for several more minutes.
"The first two rounds, I studied my opponent," Quintana said through an interpreter. "My corner told me the guy was feeling my power and that I should start to attack.
"I'm really happy with this fight. It was my toughest opponent. Thank God it was not that hard for me against a good opponent."
In the swing bouts on the card, Allan Green (11-0, 8 KOs) stayed perfect as a pro with a third-round knockout of Laverne Clark (14-18-1, 9 KOs), Jose Bermejo won a fourth-round TKO over Carlos Cisneros (5-5-1, 3 KOs) and Tomas Barragan picked up his first professional win with a four-round unanimous decision over Stanley Mendez (0-2-1).
