Vera shocks Lee!

Ringside by Bill Luppert
Photos by Emily Harney
- FightWireImages.com

Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT and televised live around the world on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, the entire buzz in the air was all about undefeated middleweight prospect Andy Lee.

Lee, the 24 year old from Limerick, Ireland had been all but crowned the next great middleweight in a division already rich in talent such as WBC/WBO unified world champion Kelly Pavlik and Ronald “Winky” Wright among others.

He brought his skills to New England fight fans for the first time ever just a full week after the nation and the world celebrated the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.  This exciting middleweight who had twelve knockouts in his first fifteen fights engaged in an entertaining battle that lasted seven of the scheduled ten rounds with the loser emerging bloodied, battered, and beaten.

Unfortunately for Lee, he was on the receiving end of the loss as a stunned near capacity crowd witnessed Brian Vera, a former participant of "The Contender" series, pull off an unlikely seventh round TKO at 2:17.  Referee Tony Chiarantano came in and saved Lee from the punishment being imposed on him.

Many of the fight fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena who previously were cheering wildly had instantly turned to a round of boos as the crowd voiced their displeasure at the decision to wave off the fight as many had felt that Lee was alright to continue.  It was especially apparent given the fact that not only had he just come back with some power shots of his own but he continued fighting back and never appeared to be on shaky legs.

In the opening round it looked as if it would be an easy night for Lee as the southpaw dropped Vera with a hard left hand. He was able to recover and beat the count to survive the round.

Lee continued to have his way with Vera going into the second round as he was able to establish his jab and punched at his opponent from different angles.  He often trapped Vera into walking into his left hand.

Vera began to figure Lee out in the fourth as he began giving him fits with his style.  This often confused Lee causing him to miss while landing at a much more frequent rate.

In round six you could see Vera gaining more confidence as he began to connect with some huge punches.  Lee was never in trouble and fired back with his own punches, often landing at a much higher frequency and with more power. The round went back and forth with both fighters landing big shots, however it was Lee who ended the round with a big left hand.

The crowd at Mohegan Sun came alive as round six seemed to mark the beginning of a fight that would soon contend as a candidate as one of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights ”Fight of the Year.”

Round seven was even more exciting than its predecessor.  Both warriors came out and traded bombs.  It seemed to be Vera who got the best of Lee as a big right hand had Lee staggered.  Lee was able to fire back however and land some huge punches of his own.

Suddenly Vera turned up the heat on Lee.  With his hands by his waist the entire time, Lee took flush shot after flush shot from Vera.

Perhaps it was Lee's chin. Perhaps it was his will to stand up. Perhaps it was just his Irish blood that kept him from going down. No matter what Vera hit Lee with, Lee was not going down.  Lee even on occasion would fire away at Vera and land.

After seeing Lee take several shots, Chiarantano stepped in and stopped the fight. The same crowd that had been cheering for both fighters suddenly turned angry and began chanting obscenities in protest to the stoppage.

The stoppage was a bit premature. Lee had taken many flush shots to the head and at times seemed to be on shaky ground. With his hands by his waist while taking most of the punishment, he presented himself to the referee as defenseless.  In a sport where the golden rule is to protect yourself at all times, Andy Lee learned tonight that defense is just as important as offense.

Both fighters showed courage and determination as they put forth a tremendous effort in a fight that despite its sudden, anti-climatic outcome, it could be one of the best fights that ESPN2 has had all year. 

Lee was ahead by 3, 3, and 5 points on the judges’ scorecards heading into the final round before Vera scored the eventual stoppage.

It was announced after the fight that a rematch is in the works for June 25th in Saratoga, NY. Lee's trainer Manny Steward said he wants a rematch, and Lee has reportedly already signed off on it, and are now waiting on Vera.

Andy Lee now has to rebound from his first defeat as a professional (15-1, 12 KOs), while Vera improves with the surprise win (16-2, 9 KOs).  This was the second victory in a row for Brian Vera since he lost his first fight as a professional as he was stopped in the second round back in September by the eventual runner up on the last season of “The Contender,” Jaidon Codrington (18-2, 14 KOs).

Super middleweight superstar Edison Pantera Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) scored a devastating third round KO over The Contender's David Banks (15-4-1, 2 KOs) on Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock LIVE Arena. A big right hand left Banks sprawled through the bottom two ropes. He was counted out at 1:15 by referee Tellis Asimemio. Miranda is rated WBC/WBO #11, WBA #12 after moving to the 168lb ranks. Miranda may now be moving on to a showdown with fellow contender Jean Pascal in June possibly in Montreal.

Palacios Decisions Rungea!

Junior welterweight Francisco Palacios scored an entertaining four round majority decision over Vineash Rungea.

Scores of the bout were 39-37 twice, and 38-38.

Both fighters came forward at each other much to the delight of the crowd. Palacios hurt Rungea in the final round with a big right hand that was followed by a flurry of punches.

Rungea was able to withstand the assault and survive the round.

With the win Palacios improves to (2-3-4, 1KO), while Rungea falls to (2-11-2).

Macy Decisions Jastrezbski!

Brian Macy of nearby Ledyard, CT improved to (3-0, 1KO) with a four round majority decision over the winless Rafal Jastrezbski. Scores of the bout were 39-36, and 38-37 twice.

Macy had Jastrezbski bleeding from the nose in the first round, and knocked him down in round two.   Jastrezbski held on and fought a tough fight.

Macy was able to put the pressure on Jastrezbski and consistently pounded away at the body to set up his right hand.

Jastrezbski took most of the shots in stride and fired back at Macy, landing a few solid shots of his own.

The knockdown in the second round proved to be the difference in the fight.

With scores of 38-37 twice, the bout would have been ruled a majority draw had Macy not scored the knockdown.

Remillard Decisions Perez!

Featherweight prospect Matt Remillard remained unbeaten (13-0, 7KOs) with a four round unanimous decision over game veteran Jesus Perez (25-19-3, 14KO’s).  Remillard knocked Perez down with a big left hook in round one that stunned him, but was able to beat the count.

Perez was aggressive throughout the fight coming forward with punches constantly, however Remillard was able to sit back and block the majority of the punches, while he  was able to pick and choose his spots.

Remillard opened a cut over Perez's eye in round two with a right hand, but that didn't deter Perez from trying to pressure Remillard.  He kept his hands up high through the entire fight, looking for angles and openings to land on Perez.

Perez was never in any serious trouble during the fight, but it was obvious he was brought in to be just an opponent for the young 21 year old Remillard as Perez had only two wins in his previous 20 fights with one draw. Scores of the bout were 40-35 twice and 39-36.

Pryor, Jr. Decisions Williams!

Aaron Pryor Jr. won a hard fought eight round unanimous decision over Alphonso Williams in a super middleweight contest. Pryor (9-0, 6 KOs) enjoyed a six inch height advantage against that of the 5'10'' Williams. 

Pryor Jr. controlled the bout with his jab, although he did survive some rocky moments in the fight.

At the opening bell, Williams rushed in connected with a flush right hand that backed up Pryor.  Pryor was able to withstand the initial onslaught and was able to settle into his own by using his reach to keep Williams (10-4, 8 KOs) at bay.

Built more like a football player, Williams would try to muscle his way to the inside to take away Pryor's jab, but often found himself on the receiving end of a right hand from his opponent.

Pryor Jr., whose tall lanky frame surprisingly carried some power, rocked Williams a couple times in the fight, forcing him to clinch on the inside.  He used his height to the best of his ability, but Williams almost had him in round seven. Williams landed a big right hand early on in the round that hurt Pryor, and had him back-peddling the whole round.

Williams was able to land a couple hard shots to Pryor's head, but he managed to stay on his feet the whole time while Williams tried to score the come from behind win. Once the round was over, Pryor was able to clear his head in between rounds, and went back to using his jab to control the pace of the fight.

The end result of that was a hard fought decision over a tough challenger, winning by scores of 79-73, 77-74, 76-75.