The fighter everyone came to see Thursday night at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, was 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward, but the two fighters who stole the show in the latest installment of Fight Night at the Tank were light heavyweights Julio Gonzalez and Vitali Kopitko in the scheduled ten-round main event.

Even though it lasted only three rounds, Gonzalez and Kopitko thrilled the crowd before referee Dan Stell waved the bout over in favor of Gonzalez at 2:53 of round three.

Gonzalez (41-3, 25 KOs) knocked Kopitko down four times with body shots and forced a standing eight count before the referee’s stoppage while the gutsy Ukrainian rocked Gonzalez on several occasions and opened a large cut over his left eye during a furious barrage in the second round. The fight started with Kopitko beating Gonzalez at his own game and using long measuring jabs to set up power shots with both hands. However, the tables turned early on with Gonzalez knocking Kopitko down with a quick two-punch combination just above the beltline. It was not the devastating type of body shot that freezes a fighter, but it appears the blows may have damaged Kopitko as he was unable to absorb what appeared to be several routine body blows from that point forward.

After the fight, Kopitko admitted that his lower midsection was in pain from the first knockdown through the end of the fight.

After Kopitko rose from the first knockdown with about one minute remaining in the first round, he and Gonzalez continued fighting at a brisk pace, until another connect by Gonzalez to Kopitko’s midsection sent the Ukrainian back to the canvas just before the end of the round.

The second round started with Gonzalez clearly targeting Kopitko’s body. Perhaps sensing the urgency from being unable to absorb Gonzalez’s body shots, Kopitko dispensed with the jab and started firing away at Gonzalez with power shots, which were increasingly accurate as Gonzalez’s defense loosened up as he focused on Kopitko’s body.

Kopitko landed a barrage of left and right hands on Gonzalez, staggering the rangy Mexican and sending the crowd into frenzy. The action was back and forth for the remainder of the round, though Kopitko was clearly the stronger fighter in this round, punctuating his effort with a powerful straight right hand that opened up a cut over Gonzalez’s left eye.

Round three began just as the previous round ended, with both fighters going toe to toe without much consideration for defense. However, Gonzalez finally got through to the body again, dropping Kopitko one minute into round three. Kopitko was in obvious pain, but managed to get back to his feet, which drew a rousing cheer from the crowd.

Kopitko landed a barrage of left and right hands on Gonzalez, staggering the rangy Mexican and sending the crowd into frenzy. The action was back and forth for the remainder of the round, though Kopitko was clearly the stronger fighter in this round, punctuating his effort with a powerful straight right hand that opened up a cut over Gonzalez’s left eye.

Round three began just as the previous round ended, with both fighters going toe to toe without much consideration for defense. However, Gonzalez finally got through to the body again, dropping Kopitko one minute into round three. Kopitko was in obvious pain, but managed to get back to his feet, which drew a rousing cheer from the crowd.