Tom Zbikowski scored a first-round knockout over Blake Warner on Saturday night at WinStar Casino in Thackerville, Okla., to improve his record to 4-0. The Baltimore Ravens safety barely broke a sweat before registering a devastating right uppercut that sent Warner (1-3) flopping to the canvas, prompting Vic Drakulich to end the fight, BoxingScene.com reported.
Zbikowski told the site before the fight that he was gunning for a knockout, hoping "to be a polished performer" against Warner.Â
"I want to be the slick boxer that I am, but a lot of these opponents just come out swinging for the fences," he said.Â
The 5-foot-11, 215-pound cruiserweight scored a unanimous decision over Caleb "True Grit" Grummet on March 26 in Atlantic City, N.J., after a pair of first-round technical knockouts in his first two bouts.
Zbikowski said his brief stay in Thackerville kept him focused leading up to his fourth fight.
"I'm sleeping as much as I can," he said before the bout. "There's not much out here. But I like the venue that we're fighting in. ... I think that there will be a nice crowd there."
The crowd was less enamored with Zbikowski than at previous bouts, with Warner hailing from Oklahoma City, but onlookers barely had a chance to make a difference, with the fight lasting just 2:20.
Zbikowski is scheduled to fight in Cabazon, Calif., on May 21, and again on June 4 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The three-year NFL veteran has yet to sign his contract with the Ravens as a restricted free agent, and could become an unrestricted free agent in 2012, depending on the new collective bargaining agreement.
Zbikowski has the support of Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, who called his exploits in the ring "awesome."
