PHOENIX (AP) Antwun Echols stopped Richard Grant 59 seconds into the third round Saturday night to win his third shot at an IBF title.

The bout, scheduled for 12 rounds, was a secondary main event before Acelino Freitas' defense of his WBA and WBO junior lightweight titles against Daniel Attah.

Both fights were televised by Showtime.

It was the 24th knockout for Echols (28-4-1), the NABF super middleweight champion. He retained that title and earned a mandatory shot at IBF 168-pound champion Sven Ottke of Germany.

Echols, who has lost twice to Bernard Hopkins in IBF middleweight fights since December 1999, knocked Grant down with a left hook in the first round and staggered him with a right cross in the second.

In the third, Echols knocked him headlong into the ropes with a flurry of hooks before referee Tony Weeks stepped between them.

"I figured he'd slow down after I put that pressure on him," said Echols, who was ahead 20-17 on all three scorecards after two rounds. "I'm a small man, but I got the big-man job done."

It was Echols' first fight in Phoenix since he lost in the 1992 Olympic Boxoffs after opponent Raul Marquez, on the verge of being knocked out, got a break when the timekeeper rang the bell midway through a round. Marquez caught his breath, won a decision and earned a silver medal in the Barcelona Olympics.

"This is the strongest I've felt for a fight in a long time, and I just really had no chance to warm up," Grant said.

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