Berlanga UD 12 Quigley in New York; Adames TKO 9 Williams in Minnesota

Berlanga UD 12 Quigley in New York; Adames TKO 9 Williams in Minnesota

Two major boxing cards went head-to-head tonight in the United States. Viewers had their pick of a Matchroom show in New York on DAZN or a PBC show in Minneapolis on SHOWTIME.

The Theater at Madison Square Garden was the venue for Edgar Berlanga’s 12-round super middleweight contest with Jason Quigley. It was Berlanga’s first match under the Matchroom banner. Eddie Hearn signed him after he was released by Top Rank with an eye toward eventually sending Berlanga in against Canelo Alvarez, a match that may never materialize now that Canelo flew the coop, inking a three-fight deal with Hearn’s rival Al Haymon.

Berlanga opened his pro career with 16 first-round knockouts but tonight he was forced to go the distance for the fifth straight time. He almost took the fight out of the judges hands in the 12^th and final round when he scored two knockdowns, but Quigley, who was knocked down twice previously without being seriously hurt (the second knockdown in round five should have been called a slip) was still standing at the final bell.

The scorecards (118-106 and 116-108 twice) were misleading as Quigley, who declined to 20-3, out-boxed Berlanga in several of the middle rounds. Considering the odds, one could say that the Irishman from Ballybogey, who was cut loose by Golden Boy Promotions, actually over-achieved.

Co-Feature

Heading into his match with Virginia journeyman Joe Cusumano, Brooklyn fan favorite Adam Kownacki told reporters that if he didn’t win in a dominant fashion, he would likely hang up his gloves. Hopefully, the likable Pole will be a man of his word.

In a stunner, Kownacki (20-4, 15 KOs) suffered his fourth straight defeat. Cusumano, one year older at age 35, knocked Kownacki down hard in the first round. Kownacki was out on his feet when the bell sounded. The ringside physician gave him a good look-over before the fight was allowed to continue. In the ensuing rounds, Kownacki absorbed a lot of punishment although he often gave as good as he got. The donnybrook was almost stopped in round seven, but Kownacki rallied from the brink of defeat before the bout turned sharply once again in Cusumano’s favor in the waning seconds.

Two hard right hands wobbled Kownacki in the early going of the eighth frame and the match, which could have been stopped sooner, was wisely terminated at that point. Cusumano, a huge underdog, improved to 22-4 (20 KOs) with the biggest win of his career.

Other Bouts of Note

Despite suffering an apparent injury to his left hand in round five, Staten Island’s Reshat Mati (14-0, 8 KOs) was able to wear down and eventually stop West Virginia’s Dakota Linger who lasted into the ninth round before the referee thought it imperative to stop the fight. The 24-year-old Mati, a child prodigy in multiple combat sports, was the first U.S. boxer signed by Eddie Hearn when Hearn raided the U.S. amateur ranks for promising prospects.

Nicknamed the Albanian Bear, Mati is the son of an Albanian immigrant father and an Albanian-American mother. This was a good win for him. Linger, now 13-6-3, is better than his record as he demonstrated in his previous fight when he manhandled Josue Vargas in a major upset.

Jersey City, NJ light heavyweight Khalil Coe improved to 6-0-1 (4 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of Buneet Bisla (7-1). Coe had Bisla on the deck twice in the opening frame, but Bisla, a 25-year-old Canadian with a kickboxing background, hung on until the seventh when a volley of punches forced the referee to intervene. Managed by the influential David McWater, Coe’s signature win came in his amateur days when he flattened the great Cuban boxer Julio Cesar la Cruz in the opening round at a tournament in Germany.

Minneapolis Armory

In the main go, a 12-round middleweight fight, Carlos Adames, a New Yorker by way of the Dominican Republic, advanced to 23-1 (18 KOs) with a ninth-round stoppage of Philadelphia’s Julian “J-Rock” Williams. Referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight with 15 seconds remaining in the ninth frame. Williams was clearly taking the worst of it, but he wasn’t badly hurt and he and his trainer Stephen “Breadman” Williams vociferously protested the stoppage.

Adames, an 11/2 favorite, was ahead by 8, 4, and 3 points through the eight completed rounds. The 33-year-old Williams, now 28-4-1, is 1-3 since his signature win over WBA/IBF super welterweight title-holder Jarrett Hurd.

Co-Feature

In a 10-round match contested at the catchweight of 157 pounds, Erickson Lubin rebounded from his loss to Sebastian Fundora in their 2022 barnburner with a fifth-round stoppage of Luis Arias. Lubin was ahead on two of the cards and even on the other heading into the fifth when he put Arias away with a looping right hand to the side of the head which Arias claimed was a rabbit punch. Arias appeared to beat the count, but his body language suggested that he really didn’t want to continue.

Lubin, who grew up in Florida, a child of Haitian immigrants, improved to 25-2 (18 KOs). Arias, a Milwaukee native of Cuban descent, fell to 20-4-1. Once considered a bright prospect, Arias is 2-4-1 in his last seven.

Also…

In the TV opener, Argentina’s Fernando Martinez (16-0, 9 KOs) successfully defended his IBF world flyweight title with an 11^th-round stoppage of previously undefeated Jade Bornea (18-1). The lasting image from the fight was Bornea’s damaged right ear which was almost literally knocked off his face by a punch in the ninth round.

Martinez, known for his aggression, gradually pulled away and was ahead by margins of 6, 4, and 4 points through the completed rounds. Bornea, whose twin brother Jake is also a professional boxer, trained for this match with Filipino countryman Jerwin Ancajas who had fought 24 rounds with Martinez.

Ancajas was also on the card. The former flyweight title-holder whose long reign was halted by Fernando Martinez, carried a career-high 121 ¾ pounds for his confidence-restorer against Colombia’s Wilner Soto.

Ancajas (34-3-2, 23 KOs) put Soto on the deck in the fourth round with a three-punch combination and put him down again in the following frame with a body punch. On both occasions, Soto took a knee and the second knee-down in round five prompted the referee to waive it off. It was the seventh straight loss for Soto (22-13) and the sixth time that he has been stopped.

Photo credits: Ed Mulholland (Matchroom) and Esther Lin (Showtime)

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