VERONA, NY (January 27, 2013)—Brian Vera threw his name in the middleweight title mix by scoring an entertaining 10th round stoppage over former Jr. Middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk to retain his NABO Middleweight title at the Turning Stone Resort Casino.

The card was promoted by Arthur Pelullo’s Banner Promotions and Greg Cohen Promotions and wad televised Live on ESPN Friday Night Fights

In round one, Vera dropped Dzinziruk two times. The first one was a flash knockdown where a left sent Dzinziruk down. That knockdown was more of a trip and the second one was from a hard right. Vera closed the round by battering Dzinziruk from more hard right hands. Vera continued to get through with right hands while Dzinziruk fought hard to stay in the fight behind a hard right jab.

In round eight, Vera was all over Dziziruk before the former world champion showed a lot of mettle by fighting out of the corner. Dzinziruk came back to have a solid round nine.

In round ten, Vera landed a pair of right hands that set off an onslaught of punches that crumpled Dzinziruk to the canvas. Dzinziruk got to his feet but referee Benji Esteves stopped the bout at 1:50 of round 10.

Vera, who is ranked #3 by the WBO is now 22-6 with 13 knockouts. Dzinziruk is now 36-2-1

Jose Hernandez scored an eighth round stoppage over previously undefeated Tony Luis in a scheduled ten round Jr. Middleweight bout.

It was a terrific back and forth brawl with both guys landing hard shots at close range. Hernandez started to take control as he landed a plethora of head shots while Luis was very effective landing thudding body blows.

In round eight, Hernandez rocked Luis several times before sending him to the canvas. Luis showed tremendous courage as he continued to throw shots but that only left him exposed to eat more shots which had previously bloodied his mouth which prompted his father/trainer Jorge to throw in the towel at 2:43 of round eight.

Hernandez of Fort Worth, Texas is now 14-6-1 with 6 knockouts. Luis of Cornwall, Ontario loses for the first time and is 15-1.

Good looking Middleweight prospect Antoine Douglas scored a four round unanimous decision over Emanuel Medina.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Douglas of Burke, Virginia and is now 4-0. Medina of Quincy, Massachusetts is now 2-3-1.

In the opening bout, WBO #11 Light Heavyweight Jackson Junior Dos Santos scored an explosive first round stoppage over former U.S. Olympian Dante Craig.

Dos Santos dropped Craig with a hard combination midway through the first frame. Dos Santos followed that up by blasting a right hand to the chin of Craig that sent him flat on his back and the fight was waved off immediately at 2:43 of round one.

Dos Santos of San Paulo, Brazil is now 14-0 with 12 knockouts. Craig of Cincinnati, OH is now 20-15-1.

On the strength of 2nd round knockdown, Jose Saenz scored a four round split decision over Jermell Tyson in a Lightweight bout.

Scores were 38-37 on two cards for Saenz while Tyson took a third card 38-37.
Saenz of Kansas City is 4-0. The gritty Tyson is now 3-9-1.

Local favorite Ryon McKenzie took out Rayshawn Myers after two round of their Light Heavyweight bout.

McKenzie dropped Myers twice in round two. First from an uppercut followed by a right hand. He than scored a hard knockdown from a hard left hook. Myers made it out of round two but his corner pulled the plug on the fight between rounds.

McKenzie of Syracuse is now 12-0 with eleven knockouts. Myers of Cleveland is now 4-16-1.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (JANUARY 25, 2013)—This weekend, fighters from Arthur Pelullo’s Banner Promotions will be featured on all the major televised fight cards in the United States.

TONIGHT!! Banner Promotions will promote an edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights from the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. In the main event, The NABO Middleweight championship will be at stake as NABO champion and perennial contender Brian Vera defends against former Jr. Middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk.

On the undercard, WBO #11 ranked Light Heavyweight contender and undefeated Jackson Junior of Brazil will make his American debut when he takes on former United States Olympian Dante Craig.

ALSO TONIGHT at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York, former United States Olympian and world ranked (IBF #3, WBO #3) ranked Jr. Middleweight Demetrius Andrade takes on Freddy Hernandez in a ten round bout for the WBO Intercontinental Junior Middleweight title in a bout that will be the main event on Showtime’s acclaimed SHOBOX series.

Finally on Saturday night, Harry Joe Yorgey will fight undefeated contender Jermell Charlo on Showtime World Championship Boxing Live from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“This is a great weekend for us”, said Arthur Pelullo, CEO of Banner Promotions.

“We have a terrific ESPN show on Friday night with the winner between Dzinziruk and Vera will get a significant fight. Sergiy has been a world champion and wants to get to that mountain top again while Vera has knocked on the door and has been so close in the past and he is very confident that he can breakthrough again and get a major victory”.

“As for Andrade, my partner Joe DeGuardia & I feel that this is a big test for Demetrius. Hernandez has been in with some of the best so when Demetrius comes through, we feel he will be ready for any title shot at Jr. Middleweight”.

“Finally on Saturday we believe in Harry Yorgey. He has been waiting for the right fight to get back in the mix and when we offered this fight to him he jumped at it. We know he is confident and we are confident he will put on a terrific performance and put his name right back in the Jr. Middleweight championship discussion”

The January 25 edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra will feature former Junior Middleweight titlist Sergiy “The Razor” Dzinziruk (36-1-1, 24 KOs) and Brian “The Warrior” Vera (21-6, 12 KOs) in the 12-round main event. Friday’s show will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, and will be available online through WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app. The card will also air live on ESPN Deportes+, the new digital extension of ESPN Deportes and ESPN3, and will air tape delayed on ESPN Deportes at 10:30 p.m. The card from Verona, N.Y., is promoted by Banner Promotions.

Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside at Turning Stone Casino describing the action for ESPN2 HD, while studio host Todd Grisham will present all the latest news and boxing highlights. Alex Pombo and Delvin Rodriguez will call the fights for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights) with Leopoldo Gonzalez and Pablo Viruega in the studio. Bi-lingual reporter Bernardo Osuna will present live interviews and reports for both shows.

Main Event:
The Ukraine’s Dzinziruk is coming off a September draw to Jonathan Gonzalez. Manager Harry Kazandjian said of Friday’s fight, “Sergiy’s got to win this fight. Brian Vera is a tough guy, but Sergiy needs to beat him and look good. He’s got to win convincingly.”

Vera, a native of Texas and participant in the third season of The Contender, is coming off one of his best wins, a 12-round majority decision win over former Junior Middleweight titlist Sergio Mora.

“I think Dzinziruk is good, he’s technical,” Vera said. “I think my style is perfect for him. I’ll put a lot of pressure on him and I don’t think he likes that. I think he likes to dictate the fight and kind of control things. But somebody that’s going to stay on top of him and put a lot of pressure on him, is going to throw him off his game a little bit. I’m going to be the bigger, stronger guy, and am going to impose my will on him and take it from him.”

Co-Feature:
Friday’s co-feature will pit undefeated Junior Welterweight Tony “Lightning” Luis (15-0, 7 KOs) of Ontario, against Texas’ Jose “El Loco” Hernandez (13-6-1, 5 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Luis will look to build momentum after a first-round knockout win over Andres Ledesma, while Hernandez will look to rebound from a 10-round majority decision loss to Robert Osiobe.

Follow ESPN’s Friday Night Fights on Twitter @ESPNFNF or like it on Facebook. Follow ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates on Twitter @ESPNBoxeo