
With a smile on his face, Brian Norman Jr. let it be known that "The motherf—ing 'Assassin' is back!"
That came moments after the former welterweight world champion crushed Josh Wagner with a second-round TKO at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, and live on DAZN, on Saturday night.
The splashy performance came in chief support to the Keyshawn Davis vs. Nahir Albright rematch headliner. More importanly, it allowed Norman (29-1, 23 KOs) to bounce back from his first professional loss — a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Devin Haney — in November.
Norman didn't waste any time breaking Wagner down Saturday night. After the first round, Wagner already had redness on his face and body due to Norman's heavy-handed shots.
During the second round, Norman found Wagner's jaw with a destructive, sweeping left hook that turned the Canadian's legs to jelly. Seeing he had Wagner hurt and cornered, Norman unloaded a barrage of punches until he left the veteran slumped for a knockdown.
The bout could have been stopped right there as Wagner's body language didn't look good, but the referee allowed it to continue. Not for long though, as Norman would force the stoppage moments later for the electric TKO.
Afterwards, he spoke with DAZN about the possibility of running it back with Haney, saying he would like the shot, while addressing how it might be far-fetched at this point.


