Robert Guerrero stops Jason Litzau

Robert Guerrero knocked out Jason Litzau in the eighth round Friday night, defending his IBF featherweight title with two quick knockdowns to finish another dramatic victory.

After taking a narrow edge during seven all-action rounds at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in central California, Guerrero (22-1-1, 15 KOs) suddenly flattened Litzau with a left uppercut and a hook in the eighth. Guerrero finished it a minute later with a quick right hook that left Litzau (23-2) sprawled on the canvas, stumbling and failing to get up.

“I knew he was hurt bad, but he’s got up from something like that before and really got back into it,” Guerrero said of the first knockdown. “But I got a little excited. It’s like tasting blood in a steak. You want to go at it.”

Guerrero leaped onto the ropes to celebrate the second defense of the featherweight title he first won in September 2006 but then lost to Orlando Salido, who subsequently tested positive for steroids. Guerrero reclaimed the vacant title in February 2007 with a TKO of Spend Abazi. Six of his last seven fights overall have ended with sudden stoppages.