By Jim Dower: WBO NABO middleweight champion Brian Vera (22-6, 13 KO’s) successfully defended his title on Friday night with a 10th round stoppage win over 36-year-old former WBO junior middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-2-1, 24 KO’s) at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA.
The fight was halted in the 10th after the bigger Vera trapped Dzinziruk in the corner and pummeled him with shots until Dzinziruk dropped to the canvas. Although Dzinziruk got back to his feet, referee referee: Benjy Esteves Jr. decided to halt it after seeing that he was too hurt to continue. The official time of the stoppage as 1:50 of the round.
Vera knocked Dzinziruk down twice in the 1st round of action. The first knockdown came from a left to the body that caused Dzinziruk to trip and fall. The 2nd knockdown was more legit with Vera nailing Dzinziruk with a hard right-left combination while he was trapped on the ropes.
The action went back and forth up until the 8th round. In that round, Dzinziruk was in trouble early after getting caught on the ropes. However, Vera tired after failing to get a knockout and was cut over the left eye. Dzinziruk dominated the remainder of the round as well as the 9th with his jabs and left hands. In the 10th, Dzinziruk made the mistake of getting caught against the ropes in the corner and this allowed Vera to blast him out.
Dzinziruk fought well when the action was at the center of the ring but he kept making the mistake of letting Vera trap him against the ropes, and that’s why he ultimately lost the fight.
Vera’s win was a nice one but it’s hard to see him going much beyond that. He doesn’t match up well with the really good middleweights in the division, and he seems only capable of fighting hard for the first minute of every round before tiring. He’d get knocked out by the good middleweights and/or beaten by a lopsided decision.
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