Erislandy Lara Tears Up Jan Zaveck in Rain-Soaked ESPN Headliner

Unless the action is on the gridiron, nasty weather has played the spoiler many a time throughout the years, but it’s not something that happens often in boxing. At the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Fla., the ESPN-televised Premier Boxing Champions card was delayed almost an hour and the main event was pushed up on the time slot to make sure it occurred.

Luckily for the sopping wet crowd and miserable production crew, Erislandy Lara made quick work of Slovenian brawler Jan Zaveck, ending the fight early in the third. Zaveck, who once held the IBF welterweight title before losing it to Andre Berto, was no match for Lara’s speed and accuracy. The Cuban defector nailed his foe with a laser-like left hand and rattled “Mr. Sympathicus” routinely.

Lara (22-2-2, 13 KOs) tagged his counterpart with a sizzling straight left with seven seconds remaining in the second, a shot that buckled the 39-year old’s knees. Zaveck was able to stay on his feet and was saved by the bell, but the end was right around the corner. Lara tore into Jan immediately in the third and after staggering him again with another left to the jaw, Zaveck stumbled to his left, reached out his right hand and appeared to motion to referee Tellis Assimenios that he was done.

Lara, unaware as to what was happening, quickly reeled off another combo to the head, but Assimenios quickly stepped in and halted the bout. When it was uncovered that Zaveck (35-4, 19 KOs) had somehow injured his right shoulder and couldn’t continue, the fight was over. The official time of the stoppage was :41 into the third, allowing Lara to retain his WBA junior middleweight title.

Bantamweight prospect Manny Rodriguez kept his unblemished record intact with a dominant performance against Eliezer Aquino, stopping the Dominican in the seventh. Rodriguez’ speed and power were too much for Aquino to handle as he was rocked several times in the contest and was eventually rescued by referee Samuel Burgos.

Aquino (17-2-1, 11 KOs) was dropped late in the third from an overhand right but he never stopped trying to turn the fight in his favor. He had his mouth guard knocked out several times in the contest, so much so that he had a point deducted in the seventh because of it. But that penalty was simply mathematic because Rodriguez eventually tagged his foe with several clean, stinging punches shortly thereafter. When Aquino backed into a corner without giving much resistance, Burgos stepped in and waived the fight off. The official time of the TKO was 2:44 of the frame, allowing the Puerto Rican to improve to 14-0 with his 10th career knockout.