It was Lara’s third straight win since his controversial loss to Canelo Alvarez in July 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Nevada.
Lara came in strong in the opening round as he got Zabeck hurt with heavy combinations. Sensing an early knockout victory, Lara came aggressively in the second round with more power shots wobbling Zaveck in the closing round, but managed to survive at the sound of the bell.
In the third round, Lara stunned Zaveck with a power left hand followed by a series of combos that found their mark, prompting the referee to halt the fight at 41 seconds of Round 3.
“I hit [Zaveck] with a great shot to the chin and froze his whole body,” [url=http:// t=_blank]Lara said after the fight. “He was complaining about pain in his ear and his leg, but the bottom line is I got the win.”
“I just wanted to come out tonight and show everyone that I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay,” Lara said. “My punches were very precise tonight, and when I got him hurt, I did what I had to do and got him out of there.”
Lara became popular when he nearly outpointed Canelo Alvarez last year in a competitive fight that drew public criticism about the judges’ verdict. Despite the controversy, no rematch has taken place.
“Canelo doesn’t want to see me because he knows I beat him in the first fight,” Lara said.
For his part Zaveck said he wanted to go inside but was taking too many shots from Lara.
“I felt good in there before [the injury],” Zaveck said. “I tried to surprise him by fighting him in close, but I was taking too many punches and he has very good power.”
With the win, Lara improves his record to 22-2-2, 13 KOs while Zaveck drops to 35-4, 19 KOs.
