By Jake Donovan

It was a quick night’s work for undefeated junior lightweight prospect Adrien “The Problem” Broner, who cruised to a first round knockout over Rafael “Happy” Lora in their Telefutura-televised main event Friday night at the Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, New York.

Making the trip from Cincinnati, Broner (132 lb.) wasted no time in taking the fight to a reluctant Lora (129 ½ lb.). Echoed throughout the venue were Broner’s grunts as he committed to every punch thrown in the all-too brief affair.

Lora’s game plan was clearly to attempt to survive the early onslaught and make his move later in the fight after Broner punched himself out. The moment never happened, as Broner moved forward without any fear of incoming.

It wasn’t too long before Lora found himself under siege, which far all intent and purposes proved to be the end of the fight.

Broner wasted no time in moving in for the kill. A double left-hook pushed Lora into position for a follow up straight right hand that had the Dominican on wobbly legs.

Defenseless and trapped in a corner, Lora could fare no better than to serve as a punching bag as Broner finished him off with a right hand and left hook to send him crashing to the canvas just before the bell to end the opening round.

No count was necessary, as the referee didn’t believe Lora was coming back from the damage already sustained in just three minutes of action.

The official time of the stoppage was 3:00 of round one.

Broner cruises to 15-0 (12KO) with the win, just his second of 2010. With as many shows as Golden Boy has planned for the rest of the year now with output deals on four separate networks, it’s safe to say we will be seeing plenty more of the Cincinnati boxer-puncher in the very near future.

On the other side of the coin, Lora’s career takes a dramatic nosedive. Though just 24 years old, it can be argued that he is already on the downside of his career. The loss was his third straight as he falls to 11-3 (5KO), with his past three bouts lasting just eight total rounds.

OTHER ACTION

Michael Angelo “The Artist” Perez looked impressive in taking a six-round decision win over Francisco Reyes in a battle of unbeaten lightweights.

Scores were 59-53 (twice) and 60-52.

It was a dominating performance all around by Perez, who scored knockdowns in the second and sixth rounds, much to the delight of a rabid crowd on hand to cheer on the Newark (NJ)-based Puerto Rican.

The first knockdown came midway through the second round, courtesy of a straight right hand that left Reyes dumbfounded. While not terribly hurt, Reyes spent the rest of the round trying to find ways to keep the 20-year old Perez at bay.

Nothing would work in the end, as he was forced to accept the moral victory that was crossing the finish line and forcing the bout to go to the cards.

However, he would pay a heavy price, suffering a cut in the third round which required momentary medical attention, and a second knockdown in the final minute of the fight. 

An uppercut began the sequence as Reyes lost his legs just long enough for Perez to come right back with a left hook and right hands to force the Seattle-based Mexican to his knees for an eight count.

Reyes recovered and fought his way down the stretch, doing enough to earn the respect of his opponent and the crowd, but not even close to scoring points with the judges, as evidenced by their lopsided cards at night’s end.

The win advances Perez’ record to 8-0-1 (3KO), winning for the second time in six weeks. Reyes heads home to Seattle with the first loss of his young career as he falls to 5-1 (2KO).

Maureen Shea was able to return to the win column with a third round knockout of Norma Faris in a televised walkout bout.

The bout was never competitive but still served its purpose. Shea entered the night having lost two straight and was in desperate need of not just a win, but a dominant performance.

It was mission accomplished by night’s end, as Shea pummeled Faris from the opening bell all the way until the referee mercifully halted the action at 1:59 of the third round.

Shea improves to 14-2 (8KO) with the win, her first in more than 18 months. Two straight knockouts followed that particular win, but the sport’s most sincere fighter never gave up on her trade and now seems poised to give it one last true run to prove that she is for real.

Faris heads home to Puerto Rico with her record now evened up at 3-3 (0KO).

The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Star Boxing, with all of the aforementioned bouts appearing live on Telefutura.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com