Da’Mazion Vanhouter (14-0, 11 KOs) overwhelmed Ivan Balaz (9-2, 7 KOs) with three first-round knockdowns, using a destructive body attack to secure a TKO victory on Saturday at the Copper Box Arena in London. The scheduled eight-round heavyweight contest lasted less than two minutes before the referee stopped it following the third knockdown.

Balaz had previously dropped Johnny Fisher, but he never established that kind of threat against Vanhouter. The 21-year-old American attacked early and repeatedly put him on the floor, turning a potentially dangerous opening round into a brief, one-sided fight.

Much of Vanhouter’s damage came downstairs. His body punching gave Balaz more to defend than shots aimed at the head, and the repeated knockdowns left the Slovak without enough time to recover or build an attack of his own. By the third trip to the canvas, there was little reason to continue.

The result extended Vanhouter’s stoppage streak to eight and followed his recent victories over Raphael Murphy and Raphael Akpejiori. His British debut provided another example of his early finishing power, although the speed of the victory limited what could be learned about his ability over longer fights.

Balaz’s previous performance against Fisher gave this matchup some interest. An opponent who has already hurt a bigger-name heavyweight presents an obvious risk if a prospect leaves himself open while chasing a knockout. Vanhouter removed that risk quickly by making Balaz defend from the outset.

The body attack was the most encouraging part of the performance. Young heavyweight punchers can become too focused on landing one spectacular shot upstairs, especially when opponents begin retreating or covering up. Attacking the torso gives them a larger target and can punish a defensive guard that protects the chin while leaving the ribs and midsection exposed.

Against Balaz, Vanhouter’s approach produced immediate results. The knockdowns arrived too quickly for the fight to settle into anything resembling a competitive contest. Balaz needed an opportunity to interrupt the American’s offense, but he could not create one before the referee intervened.

Vanhouter’s physical progression also makes him an unusual heavyweight prospect. Having begun his professional career near 154 pounds, he has developed into a fighter weighing more than 230. That change makes future opposition particularly relevant: stronger heavyweights who can absorb his opening attack will provide a better indication of how his power and conditioning hold up together.

Those questions remain for later fights. Balaz could not take Vanhouter beyond the opening round, much less force him to adjust after several rounds of resistance.

For this outing, Vanhouter completed the job emphatically. Three knockdowns and a sustained attack to the body gave him another early stoppage, keeping his unbeaten record intact and providing a clear reason to increase the difficulty of his next test.

Vanhouter is already drawing inevitable comparisons to Moses Itauma. Same age bracket, identical trail of early bodies, and the usual promoter machinery hyping him as the next heavyweight savior. The difference is Itauma actually stepped up, and Filip Hrgovic quickly proved what happens when an explosive kid runs into a granite chin that doesn’t fold in two minutes.

That is why nobody should get carried away by Vanhouter’s demolition of Ivan Balaz. Smashing an overmatched target to the ribs is easy work. Dropping a guy three times inside two minutes tells you zero about how Vanhouter reacts when somebody takes his best shot, walks through the fire, and makes him fight backward. Beating up a hurt fighter is a world away from surviving a dogfight.

If Vanhouter is going to become what his backers claim, he needs opponents who come to fight, not collect a check. Racking up highlight-reel knockouts against soft touches looks great on social media, but Itauma learned the hard way what happens when you skip the learning curve. Vanhouter handled business, but until he finds someone willing to fire back, we have no idea how good he actually is.