Two hundred percent prime cut Kavaliauskas

Egidijus “The Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas suffered a cut in the first round, but managed to defeat Juan Carlos Abreu by unanimous decision with scores of 97-93, 97-93 and 96-94, to retain the NABF welterweight title in The main event televised by ESPN this Saturday night at the Save Mart Center.

Kavaliauskas vs. Abreu was elevated to the status of main event on Friday after the opponent of WBC super lightweight champion José Ramírez, Danny O’Connor, suffered a severe case of dehydration before trying to weight in.

“Not everything went as well as I expected, Abreu was very quick and very skilled, and at the beginning, it took a couple of rounds to make adjustments,” Kavaliauskas said. “I’m ready for all the big names in the division, I gave 200 percent in the gym and I’ll always give my best in the ring.”

Kavaliauskas (20-0, 16 KOs) remains in line for a possible world title opportunity, while Abreu (21-4-1, 19 KOs) saw his two fight  winning streak came to an end.