Staten Island’s Reshat Mati Spiffs Up Eddie Hearn’s Card in Manchester

Scott Quigg will have the home field advantage on Saturday when he opposes Ireland’s Jono Carroll in the featured bout of a 12-fight card in Manchester, England. A Matchroom Sport promotion, the bout will air on Sky Sports in the U.K. and on DAZN in the United States and other parts of the world.

In a 6-rounder on the undercard, 21-year-old welterweight Reshat Mati (6-0, 4 KOs) meets Abdallah Luanja (13-7-2), a 31-year-old Tanzanian. Mati, from Staten Island, NY, was Eddie Hearn’s first official signee when the Matchroom honcho raided the U.S. amateur ranks for promising prospects, theoretically weakening the team that the U.S. will send to the Tokyo Olympics. Mati formally joined the Matchroom family on July 17, 2018. Seven other accomplished amateurs followed in his wake, one of whom, Brooklyn heavyweight Nkosi Solomon, lost his pro debut and has been released from his contract. Here are the other six active members of Eddie Hearn’s U.S. “Kiddie Corps”:

Brooklyn middleweight Nikita Ababiy, current record 8-0, signed on July 24, 2018

Los Angeles super middleweight Diego Pacheco (9-0), signed on Oct. 5, 2018

Las Vegas super middleweight Alexis Espino (6-0), signed on Oct. 27, 2018

Toledo, OH, lightweight Otha Jones III (5-0), signed on Jan. 16, 2019

Camden, NJ, featherweight Raymond Ford (5-0), signed on Jan. 28, 2019

Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams (5-0), signed on Feb. 26, 2019

Mati and his six undefeated stablemates currently range in age from 18 (Pacheco) to 23 (Williams). Including Mati’s match on Saturday, all but Espino have fought overseas, either in England or, as the case with Pacheco, in Saudi Arabia. Eddie Hearn hopes the best of them will develop a following on both sides of the pond.

Born to an Albanian immigrant father and a New Jersey-born Albanian mother – hence his nickname, the Albanian Bear — Reshat Mati is different from the others in that he was a prodigy in multiple combat disciplines, garnering him a ton of ink before he was old enough to vote. At the age of 13, he was the subject of a feature story by award-winning writer Charles P. Pierce in Grantland. Pierce compared him with baseball player Bryce Harper who was the National League Rookie of the Year and an All-Star at the age of 19.

Two years later, when he was a sophomore in high school, Mati was profiled in New York magazine in a story by Ryan Bradley who anointed him “the greatest young fighter in the world.”

“He’s a two-time Junior Olympic boxing champ, seven-time grappling champ, and two- time Muy Thai champ,” wrote Bradley, who noted that Mati had recently joined the wrestling team at his Staten Island high school where he was 3-0 competing against older kids. Since that article was published, Mati has added to his haul of first-place trophies including a National Golden Gloves title in the open division in the 141-pound weight class.

Bradley guessed that Mati’s future was in MMA which combines the various disciplines in which Mati was proficient. However, Mati, who reportedly threw punches against imaginary opponents while still in the crib (shades of Floyd Mayweather Jr) came to feel most comfortable in a boxing ring. “Boxing is more of an art form than the other sports,” he said in a YouTube interview. “A crafty fighter can overcome a fighter with more brute strength.”

Eddie Hearn’s rivals have followed his example, lassoing prominent prospects who in an earlier era would not have turned pro at quite such a tender age. Vito “White Magic” Mielnicki Jr, a 17-year-old New Jersey welterweight and Puerto Rican phenom Xander Zayas, also a 17-year-old welterweight, are signed to Premier Boxing Champions and to Top Rank, respectively.

In the future, we will see which organization invested the most wisely. Eddie Hearn with his U.S. Kiddie Corps has a head start.

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