Berlanga’s KO1 Streak Looking More Like Valero’s Than Brunson’s

Published

4 years ago

April 21, 2021

Berlanga's-KO1-Streak-Looking-More-Like-Valero's-Than-Brunson's

It isn’t exactly a news flash that most fight fans are mesmerized by power-punchers, maybe even more than usual if a particular knockout artist has demonstrated an affinity for swift, percussive put-aways. That being the case, it well could be that super middleweight Edgar Berlanga’s scheduled eight-rounder with Demond Nicholson, supposedly the co-feature in support of WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete’s defense against Christopher Diaz Saturday night in Kissimmee, Fla., will be more scrutinized than the main event.

Those bouts will be televised by ESPN/ESPN+.

Nicknamed the “Chosen One,” the Brooklyn-born Berlanga, who turns 24 on May 18, has won all 16 of his professional bouts on first-round knockouts. If he can extend his streak of never having had to answer the bell for the second round, hardly a gimme given that Nicholson (23-3-1, 20 KOs) arguably poses his sternest test to date, Berlanga’s bandwagon, which is already taking on lots of riders, is apt to soon become standing-room-only.

“When we say the phrase `heavy hands,’ Exhibit A is Edgar Berlanga,” ESPN blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore said after Berlanga, who is of Puerto Rican descent and hopes to follow in the footsteps of his island idols, Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto, rang up No. 16 with a swift stoppage of another credible opponent, Ulises Sierra, on Dec. 20 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

Some records are less legitimate than others, and such would appear to be the case with Yemeni flyweight Ali Raymi’s mark of 21 one-round KOs at the outset of his career. Although Raymi, whose last bout was in 2015, won each of his 25 pro fights inside the distance, they all took place in his home country and against less-than-stellar competition. Also highly suspect is Tyrone Brunson’s next-best mark of 19 consecutive one-round KOs. The still-active Brunson, a Philadelphian who has fought as a junior middleweight, middleweight and super middleweight, technically defeated five undefeated opponents during his KO1 run, but all five of those victims were making their pro debuts and four of them never fought again. Now 28-8-2 with 25 KOs, Brunson is just 9-8-2 with six wins and five losses by KO since his opening spree of quickies.

In a story I authored for The Sweet Science on April 16, 2015, titled When the Grandmothers Stopped Falling for Tyson Brunson, Brunson’s then-promoter, Carlos Linas, explained why and how the bogus record was orchestrated.

“Even if you fought 19 grandmothers in a row, it’s still kind of notable to get all of them out of there in the first round,” Linas rationalized.

“Look, I know Tyrone has been moved slow. There have been bumps along the way. But we’re on the way now. I’ve seen him spar with guys like Kassim Ouma, Ronald Hearns (Tommy’s son), Kermit Citron and Andy Lee, and more often than not he walks through them. I saw him flatten Hearns in the gym.

“In retrospect, maybe it was a mistake to bring Tyrone along so slow. I tried to do what’s best. It (the one-round KO streak) was kind of an angle that we all came up with and tried to achieve. We believed in Tyrone’s talent, and still do, but perhaps we should have groomed him better along the way. I guess we’re still trying to reinvent the wheel. It didn’t work out. As he stepped up in competition, things got a little tough.”

For more than a century, the accepted record for one-round knockouts at the start of a pro career was held by Arthur Susskind, who, billed as Young Otto, strung together 16 such wins, a run that ended in 1905. By all accounts, Young Otto was a better than decent puncher, with 44 first-round KOs reportedly to his credit. But his record would be eclipsed by an even more devastating force of nature, Venezuelan southpaw Edwin Valero, a two-division world champion who won all 27 of his pro bouts by knockout, the first 18 in the opening round.

The WBA super featherweight and then WBC lightweight ruler, Valero, who was 28 when he committed suicide on April 19, 2010, a day after he was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife, likely would have been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame were it not for the unwelcome notoriety that attached itself to him while he was still an active fighter. Less than two weeks before his wife’s death and his subsequent taking of his own life (using his pants for a noose, he hung himself in his jail cell the day after his arrest), Valero had vacated his WBC lightweight title in expectation of moving up to junior welterweight and a bid for a championship in a third weight class.

What, you say long-reigning middleweight champion and Argentine legend Carlos Monzon is enshrined in the IBHOF and was actually convicted of murdering his second wife? Monzon, 52 when he died in a car crash while on furlough from prison, was a member of the IBHOF’s charter class of inductees in 1990. It might seem that the heavy out-of-the-ring baggage carried by Monzon was at least similar to Valero’s, but to date El Inca Dinamita has never appeared on the ballot.

Whether or not he ever will be officially immortalized with a plaque in Canastota, N.Y., several of those who saw Valero in action believe he would not only be competitive with a likely future Hall of Famer, he’d have won.

Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions (for whom Valero fought from the mid-point of his career on), picked him to defeat Vasiliy Lomachenko in a speculative story I did for TSS, Fantasy Fisticuffs: The Late Edwin Valero vs. Vasyl Lomachenko. Who Wins?, which was posted on Jan. 9, 2018.

“Oh, it wouldn’t be that competitive a fight,” Gomez said. “Valero would knock Lomachenko out. Valero was a truly special fighter, a special talent. He was very, very strong. He had raw power, incredible power, and in both hands. If he hit you, you were out of there, and he hit everybody. Every fight a win, every fight a knockout.”

So, with apologies to Raymi and Brunson, let’s set the unofficial but more palatable record for one-round knockouts out of the gate to Valero. Should Berlanga make Nicholson the 17^th addition to his collection, he’d need just one more blitz to match a standard that seemingly would earn anyone’s seal of approval. During his 18-fight equivalents of a speedway drag race, Valero’s victims were a collective 155-102-17 going into their matchups with him, with 77 KO wins and 53 such losses. Berlanga’s comparative mark as of now stands at 166-67-12, with the vanquished compiling 89 KO victories to just 25 defeats.

It should be interesting to see whether Berlanga feels any pressure to throw everything he has at Nicholson from the jump. But even if he has to satisfy himself with a somewhat delayed win by stoppage, or even a triumph on points, the drum beat of support for him is likely to grow louder if he continues to be a source of explosive power in a sport that dotes on such displays.

If Berlanga again does his thing in the manner to which he and his supporters have become accustomed, Navarrete (33-1, 28 KOs) and Diaz (26-2, 16 KOs) might find they have a tough act to follow.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank via Getty Images

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Published

3 hours ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

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Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2025

TSS Press

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The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.

Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.

Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11^th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)

Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.

The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).

Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”

A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.

Other winners:

Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon

Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney

Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire

Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix

The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.

The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.

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Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.

He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.

Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.

“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.

“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)

Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.

During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”

He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.

He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.

On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.

Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.

If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.

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