Consider it a premature selection. As Monty Meza-Clay entered a Monroeville ring last night, the sound system inside the Pittsburgh ExpoMart blared the Phil Collins lyrics, "I've been waiting for this moment all my life. ..." Problem was, this night constituted the warm-up act to that very moment, an interlude bout before an anticipated title fight by next spring.

No matter. Meza-Clay, the World Boxing Organization's top-rated featherweight challenger, responded by showing Omar Lizarraga to a premature exit.

Meza-Clay, of Rankin, dropped Lizarraga with a left hand to the body, and Lizarraga stayed on one knee while referee Rick Steigerwald gave what is supposed to be a standing-10 count. Problem was, Lizarraga never stood until 10. So Steigerwald had no choice, under boxing rules, but to wave off the fight and declare Meza-Clay a winner by knockout -- 1:31 into the opening round.

Good thing for Meza-Clay, too: He might have broken his right wrist in the brief bout, taking numbing medication and planning to get X-rays on it later last night.

"But I think we should be good," a bubbly Meza-Clay (28-1) said. "It happened on a shot to the head. I felt it."

He felt the pain, as well, but if it required, he would've continued the other 9 1/2 scheduled rounds with one hand: "We could do that all night." Still and all, Meza-Clay needed just 91 seconds to pocket his 19th career knockout without working up a sweat. He left the ring to Collins' "In the Air Tonight" yet again, prepared to wait at least a month to see where his boxing life goes next.

Steven Luevano (35-1) of La Puente, Calif., the WBO's champion in that 128-pound division, is slated to defend his title June 28 at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino against Mario Santiago. Meza-Clay a fortnight ago arose to WBO's No. 1-challenger spot. Under that organization's rules, Meza-Clay is a mandatory opponent for Luevano in the next nine months. Last night, on the Spanish-speaking TeleFutura that broadcast his fight and three others to an audience that included Dish Network customers, he afterward called out his competition.

"I talked to all of them on the TV: 'Where's the WBO champ at? Where's the [International Boxing Federation] champ at?' " Meza-Clay said. "But I'm a little upset that I didn't get to perform for everybody like I usually do. I was just getting turned on."

Lizarraga (17-5), of Tijuana, Mexico, was surprised by the bout's brevity, too. He looked to trainer Raul Perez and then stood, but it was too late: "The count was really fast. He caught me good. He got me with a hard shot to the liver. But if I was really hurt, I wouldn't have stood."

The televised undercard was a veritable weather front. Latif "Bad Storm" Mundy (8-0) of Philadelphia, no relation to Steelers draftee Ryan Mundy of Woodland Hills in the crowd, and "Lightning" Rod Salka (6-0) of Bunola rained ... er, reigned over their respective foes in the warm-up bouts. After Meza-Clay's abbreviated bout, Mike Strauss (6-0) of Carnegie won by decision.