ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- David Tua stopped Russell Chasteen in the second round of a scheduled 10-round tuneup Saturday night, opening a fight card that mixed hip-hop music with three-round exhibition matches.

Tua (42-3) was fighting for the first fight since Aug. 17, when the 30-year-old New Zealander stopped former champion Michael Moorer in 30 seconds. This time, Tua actually broke a sweat, feeling out the flabby Chasteen for a round before putting him away.

Chasteen (19-6) was game enough. He threw more punches than Moorer did, and followed them by lunging and grabbing Tua, to keep him from hitting back.

But in the second round, Tua found his range. The knockout came with a hard right to the head followed by a left that toppled the 247-pound Louisville, Ky., heavyweight at 1:41 of the round. He didn't get up until a ringside physician shined a flashlight into his eyes.

The knockout didn't surprise many, although not many saw it: The fight, the first bout on a card that was otherwise exhibitions, was held before a couple hundred people at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, an hour before the pay-per-view telecast of the exhibitions began.

The 252-pound Tua, who made $40,000 for the knockout, took the fight for the practice -- in the ring and in the gym preparing for it. He hopes his next opponent is former champion Hasim Rahman.

"I need to stay busy,'' he said afterward. "The preparation is the thing.''

But he said it felt strange to be fighting in front of an empty house.

"I don't remember the last time I had to open a show. It was like going back to the beginning,'' he said.

The "Fistful of Dollars'' fight card's biggest name was 44-year-old grandfather Tim Witherspoon. It featured eight heavyweights in a single-elimination tournament, but the results didn't count against their records.

In between matches, DJs on an adjoining stage rapped and spun discs, and live performances were planned.