Lara, Charlo, Hurd defend boxing titles

NEW YORK — Erislandy Lara schooled Terrell Gausha for most of their 12-round WBA welterweight title fight Saturday night, outpointing the 2012 U.S. Olympian to close out the triple-championship card.

Jermell Charlo also stunned Erickson Lubin with a sharp, short right to the chin and knocked out the challenger 2:41 into their WBC super welterweight title fight. In the best bout of the night, Jarrett Hurd overcame a cut to his left eye to stop a game Austin Trout in 10 rounds in their IBF junior middleweight title fight.

The feature was hardly that, a display of imprecise punching and pawing. Lara, a native of Cuba now nicknamed “the American Dream,” knocked down Gausha in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but by the ninth, many of those remaining in an announced crowd of 7,643 were chanting “This is boring.”

The previous two bouts were anything but.

Charlo’s first good punch of the bout was enough for the win. Lubin, who was in a crouch when hit, took the shot directly on his chin. One of the rising stars of boxing, he was immediately counted out as his left leg twitched while he was on the canvas.

Charlo scored his 15th knockout in his 30th fight and second defense.

Hurd and Trout were set to go to the hospital after their fight. But Hurd was cleared by doctors at the Barclays Center.

Hurd had the eye looked at by ring doctors several times. But it was Trout’s right eye that was pretty much closed by the end of the 10th, and the action-filled fight was stopped before the 11th began.