Vera Stops Dzinziruk on ESPN Friday Night Fights

Jimmy Tobin / January 26, 2013 - 2:43pm

Turning Stone Casino, Verona, New York—Try as he might, former junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk was unable to refuse Brian Vera's invitation to a rough and tumble Friday night, eventually succumbing to the Texan's abuse in the tenth round.

Vera, from Austin, Texas, blitzed Dzinziruk early in round one, scoring two knockdowns before his opponent had time to even adjust to the lights. Dzinziruk seemed doomed to an early ending as Vera's unorthodox attack—in particular, a looping right hand—landed with ominous repetition. It looked as if the Dzinziruk, while his mind was able to process the dipping and swinging before him, could not will his body to obey his command.

And yet, Dzinziruk, from Kiev, Ukraine, would claw his way back into the fight with a sharp jab, snapping straight left, and a counter uppercut to the body. While Vera, 160, continued to have moments of success slugging his foe along the ropes, the pace slowed considerably over the middle rounds. This slower pace favoured Dzinziruk, 160, who was at his best dictating the action with his jab, keeping a lid on the brawl Vera was looking to boil over. The ferocity of his attack dulled by fatigue, Vera began to catch more and more of Dzinziruk's punches; the dominance of form now telling the tale that strength began.

In the tenth round however, after he had bludgeoned his opponent nearly to the point of a stoppage in the the previous round,Vera would slam the door on his Dzinziruk's comeback. Trapping the Ukrainian in the corner, Vera wailed away with both hands; Dzinziruk, mouth agape, slumped into the ropes, and collapsed to the mat. He would rise, but the last of his fight had left him. Referee Benjy Estevez Jr. waving the fight off at 1:50 of the tenth round.

Vera, improves to 22-6 (12) with the victory. When asked about the possibility of fighting middleweight menace Gennady Golovkin, Vera, unlike many of the fighters in the division, was enthused at the prospect. "I'll fight Gennady," said a smiling Vera, "and I'll whoop his ass."

Stopped for the second time in three fights, Dzinziruk falls to 36-2-1 (24).

The broadcast opened with an entertaining dust up between late fill in Jose Hernandez and Tony Luis.

Endurance and geography figured as the determining factors, with Luis, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, trying to work his way inside where he could crank his short arms into the head and body of the taller Hernandez. When he had his stocky opponent at a distance however, Hernandez, Fort Worth, Texas, was able to land long punches, particularly left hooks to Luis' body.

The action oscillated between each fighters' preferred range, with Luis, 141, trying to bully Hernandez to the ropes with success, only to have Hernandez, 141, move out of range and land his own discouraging blows. This attritive contest persisted, neither fighting gaining a substantial advantage until the sixth round, when Luis' pressure and Hernandez seemed to swing the fight in Luis' favour.

This success was short-lived, however. Hernandez, perhaps feeling his stamina would betray him over the remainder of the bout, gambled on the efficacy of his assault, and fought desperately in the seventh round. In the eighth, Hernandez shook Luis with a left hook, and dropped him with the follow up. Luis would beat the count, only to be drowned by Hernandez along the ropes, taking enough flush punches to prompt his corner to throw in the towel. The official time of the stoppage, 2:47 of the eighth round.

With the win, Hernandez improves to 14-6-1 (6), while Luis, suffering the first loss of his career, drops to 15-1 (7).