By Mark Vester
On the undercard to Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, shootout between Austin, Texas natives saw junior middleweight prospect James Kirkland (21-0, 24KOs) stop Brian Vera (16-2, 10KOs) within eight rounds at the catch-weight of 157-pounds.
Kirkland came out in his usual style of coming forward and throwing power punches, pushing the bigger Vera around. Vera continued to stay on the backfoot, landing a counter here and there while Kirkland continued to throw punches in all directions. A left uppercut in the second round sent Vera down. A second knockdown was called when Vera was knocked right into ropes from a combination.
Kirkland turned up the heat in the third, battering Vera against the ropes with power shots. The fourth round was more of a tough man battle, with neither guy throwing too good or landing too good, other than a bodyshot from Kirkland in the final ten seconds. During the fifth, Kirkland once again let his hands go and was battering Vera to the head and body against the ropes. Both fighters looked winded during the sixth as they fought at close range. Kirkland finished with a strong combination.
The seventh round was the same as the sixth, with both guys looking tired and neither doing anything impressive. Kirkland was busier and landing the better punches. Kirkland came out winging bodyshots in the eight. As Vera was hiitring Kirkland with rights, Kirkland countered with a two punch combinations that sent Vera down for the third time of the fight. A few seconds later Kirkland was battering him in the corner and the ref jumped in to stop the fight.
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