By Ted Sares: Andy Lee, Limerick, Ireland, 15-0-0, 12 KO’s coming in, lost his “O” as Brian Vera, Austin, Texas, 15-1-0, 9 KO’s, stopped him at the 2.17 mark of the seventh round of a fight that had turned at the midway point.
The highly touted Irish middleweight southpaw struck early putting Vera down in the first and controlling the action for the next 3 rounds with one straight left after another. However, he failed to follow up with short right hooks for which Vera seemed wide open. This, along with his inability to tie up Vera when he had him hurt, would be his undoing.
While Vera appeared shaken at times, his chin was as strong as his heart muscle as he fought back with savage overhand rights that hurt Lee. With one eye badly cut and both eyes bruised and swollen, the game Irishman started to back up in the fifth giving the tough Texan and former “Contender” encouragement to bring it on. And that’s just what he did, though with Lee’s power, the end remained a question mark.
Finally, after a series of hard rights, a final well leveraged one that connected flush prompted the referee to halt matters, even though Lee countered and missed with his own shot at the end. While many (including me) felt the fight had been stopped a tad too soon, Lee’s trainer, Manny Steward, was not one of them. And Andy himself offered little protest as his face was badly broken up and had the distinct look of a loser. Vera’s was unmarked.
The shorter but stocky Vera, who had been iced by Jaidon Codrington during the Contenders Show but had defeated Max Alexander in the under card of the finals, not only ended Andy ‘s 9-fight KO streak, but put an early damper on St. Patrick’s Day festivities. It will be up to Michael Macklin to get the lads back into the winning column as he battles former World Champ Yori Boy Campas of Mexico ON March 22, 2008 in Dublin.