Ruiz vs Arreola results and highlights: Erislandy Lara blasts Thomas Lamanna in one, Eduardo Ramirez stops Isaac Avelar

Erislandy Lara got a terrible matchup for a vacant secondary middleweight title sanctioned by the WBA, and he let the truth of it be told by knocking out Thomas Lamanna in the first round.

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Lara (28-3-3, 16 KO) let the woefully over-matched Lamanna (30-5-1, 12 KO) throw a few punches to start, then landed a left, another left, a left that shook Lamanna up, and then a rocket left to knock him out and finish the fight.

The win gives Lara the WBA’s “world” (“regular”) middleweight title, which it shouldn’t, because Lamanna should not have been in anything called a world title fight. The WBA’s “super world” champion is Ryota Murata, and for what it’s worth Chris Eubank Jr has the interim title, or at least used to, whatever.

Eduardo Ramirez TKO-3 Isaac Avelar

Another solid win for Ramirez (25-2-3, 12 KO), who now has three pretty good stoppage wins in a row after his loss to Claudio Marreroin 2019. And he’s flashed the sort of power his KO percentage doesn’t suggest he has, but he’s just one of those guys.

Ramirez, 28, now has the interim WBA featherweight title, which doesn’t need to exist, really, because they have a “world” (“regular”) champion in Xu Can, but I suppose their argument is that Leo Santa Cruz — their “super world” champ — is, uh — well, they should have stripped Santa Cruz for not fighting in that division since Feb. 2019, but whatever. WBA. Belts.

Avelar (17-3, 10 KO) was bringing the fight from the get-go, but Ramirez out-landed him in the first, and while I thought Avelar took the second, there was the sense that Avelar — who was stopped in 2019 by Stephen Fulton Jr — was just begging to get clipped with something. He did, and he went down, and though referee Gerard White let him continue, he was vulnerable. Ramirez came in, landed a huge shot, and White got in there with Avelar out on his feet: