Edgar Berlanga, #5 with WBO, #7 with IBF, and not too shabby at #8 and #10 with WBA and WBC respectively, delivered a knockout punch in the sixth round, leaving Padraig McCrory wondering what hit him. The scrap took place at the Caribe Royale in sunny Orlando, Florida. Berlanga, after a bit of a warm-up, started landing the heavy artillery by the fourth round, and by the sixth, McCrory was taking a closer look at the canvas. The clock stopped at 2:44, marking Berlanga’s return to knockout glory since his last KO win back in December 2020.
Meanwhile, 2020’s Olympic champ Andy Cruz showed Brayan Zamarippa how it’s done, schooling him over ten rounds for the IBF International and WBA Continental Latin-American lightweight crowns. Cruz was dominating the ring, but you’ve got to hand it to Zamarippa; the lad hung in there despite the schooling. The judges all agreed, handing Cruz a clean sweep on the scorecards.
Over in the welterweight division, Shakhram Giyasov, with an Olympic silver in his pocket from 2016, worked his magic against Pablo Cesar Cano, earning a technical nod after Cano took an unfortunate tumble in the eleventh, injuring his ankle. Giyasov had been in the lead, landing a body shot that floored Cano earlier. The judges’ cards were all singing the same tune in favor of Giyasov.
Antonio Vargas found himself on the canvas in the first but turned the tables on Jonathan Rodriguez in a WBA bantamweight eliminator, flooring him in the second. Despite a hiccup where Vargas lost points for a low blow, he dominated, ensuring Rodriguez’s corner threw in the towel before the eighth could start.
In a flyweight face-off, Yankiel Rivera, fresh from the 2020 Olympics, battled through ten rounds against Andy Dominguez for the WBA and WBC Continental Americas titles. Rivera had the upper hand for the majority of the fight, despite Dominguez’s best efforts to turn the tide in the ninth. The scorecards unanimously favored Rivera, sealing his victory.