Andreas Katzourakis kept a smile on his face from the opening bell, even after Roberto Cruz appeared to rock him with a right hand in the second round Friday night in his adopted hometown of Houston.

Katzourakis (16-0, 10 KOs)., a native of Athens, Greece, who holds a WBA regional belt at 154 pounds, immediately cranked up his activating and power to stop Cruz (11-1) at 2:37 of the seventh round at Red Owl Boxing Arena.

"He came out with some explosiveness and power," Katzourakis said in a post-fight interview on DAZN. "I got caught with a right hand and it was nothing. Sometimes I like to feel the power of my opponent first, then I wake up and do my thing.

By the third, Cruz was no longer the one coming forward. Katzourakis took the lead and broke him down methodically to the body and head.

Katzourakis cut off the ring, forcing Cruz to fight at a faster pace as the power in his shots waned and his punches grew wider.

A reverse 1-2 by the right-hander, followed by a left hook to the body, hindered Cruz in the fourth. He was gassed by the fifth as he appeared to be saved by the ropes during Katzourakis' flurry, but it wasn't ruled a knockdown.

Cruz was the most defensive in the sixth as he tried to conserve energy by avoiding exchanges, but Katzourakis wouldn't let him rest.

He went to the body hard in the seventh and overwhelmed Cruz with volume until he finally crumpled to the canvas. Cruz's corner threw in the white towel to stop the bout.

Katzourakis won the OTX 154-pound tournament in 2024, a round-robin of then-fringe contenders at super welterweight staged by his promoter Overtime Boxing.

He is ranked in the top 15 by two of the four major sanctioning bodies and figures to rise after Friday's outcome.