WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara 30-3-3 (18) retained his title in typical fashion with a second-round knockout of Michael Zerafa 31-5 (19) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
Australian Zerafa, 32, boxed well in the opening round, but Lara bided his time. In the second round the 40-year-old Cuban southpaw found his opening, landing a right hand, left cross combination over Zerafa’s lazy left jab.
The time of the knockout was 2:59.
Earlier in the night Julio Cesar ‘El Rey’ Martinez 21-3 (15) retained his WBC flyweight title with a majority decision win over Angelino ‘Huracan’ Cordova 18-1-1 (12) in a wild and entertaining brawl.
Previously undefeated Venezuelan Cordova, 28, was down twice in the third round from stiff jabs, but rallied to work his way back into the fight.
There were a lot of willing exchanges, but it was Martinez who generally got the better of the action to edge the victory on the judges’ scorecard 114-112, 114-112 and 113-113 in what was the the 29-year-old Mexican’s seventh successful defence of the world title he won against Cristofer Rosales in December 2019.
According to CompuBox, Cordova threw 274 more punches than Martinez but landed just seven more. The final punches totals were very close, but Martinez was the more accurate fighter, especially when it came to power punches, where he landed 38% to Cordova’s 28%.
On the free portion of the undercard, junior middleweight Serhii Bohachuk 24-1 (23) was taken the distance for the first in his career by Brian ‘La Bala’ Mendoza 22-4 (16), winning a wide unanimous decision and collecting the vacant WBC interim title in the process.
American Mendoza, 30, was competitive in the opening rounds but was quickly on the receiving end of a one-sided beating from the 28-year-old Ukrainian knockout artist. Mendoza rallied in the championship rounds, but it was too little too late.
By the time the final bell rang, the left side of Mendoza’s face was badly swollen after being tattooed by Bohachuk big right hand.
The judges’ scorecards read 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110, all for Bohachuk.
“I feel great, I could maybe go 12 more rounds,” said Bohachuk, who was originally slated to face Sebastian Fundora before the six-foot-six Californian southpaw was subbed in to replace the injured Keith Thurman in the main event.
“This may have been the best fight of my pro career. Now I’m happy, I’m a[n interim] world champion. Next, maybe [the Tszyu-Fundora winner]. I want the best.”
Mendoza ate a lot of big shots throughout the fight and showed a ton of heart to remain on his feet.
“I’ve always had that chin, but I wasn’t trying to rely on that. But he was the better man tonight,” Mendoza said. “That pride in me — I’m a dog, I’m a beast in here, I’ll never stop fighting.”
In an all-action opener, super featherweight prospect Curmel Moton 3-0 (2) pitched an eight-round shutout over the game Anthony Cuba 7-1-2 (3).
It was the first time the 17-year-old American had been extended past the opening round.
