Berlanga’s Boxing Skills Remain Unseen; His 1st Round KO Streak Moves to 15

Undefeated Super Middleweight Edgar Berlanga continues to put away foes inside the first round, he stopped Lanell Bellows in 89 seconds

Super Lightweight Josue Vargas dominated Kendo Castaneda in an impressive 10-round display of boxing to win his 18th victory

LAS VEGAS (October 17, 2020) — Obviously the boxing world eagerly awaited the biggest fight in the sport in the Lightweight unification title fight between Vasiliy Lomachenko and undefeated IBF champion Teofimo Lopez. As usual, the undercard had to get the action started and properly set the stage for such a spectacle.

One of the evening’s most compelling attractions was undefeated Super Middleweight Edgar Berlanga and his 14-fight first round knockout streak. Lanell Bellows drew the assignment of attempting to extend the 23-year old slugger from Brooklyn, New York.

Berlanga started patiently. He landed a couple of left jabs before throwing some heavier shots that started effecting Bellows and busting his face up immediately. Bellows stood in and attempted to find Berlanga’s body, but the power started moving Bellows.

Bellows left eye was damaged badly. Berlanga stepped up his intensity and the effect of the shots on Bellows started catching referee Robert Hoyle’s attention. After not responding to Hoyle’s calls of “Show me something!”, he stepped in and waved the fight to an end at 1:19.

Kendo Castaneda (17-3, 8 KOs) vs Josue Vargas (18-1, 9 KOs)

Josue Vargas unloaded most of his entire arsenal in round one against Kendo Castaneda. The southpaw jabbed, attacked the body, landed some uppercuts and used the ring. Castaneda finally caught up to Vargas at the round’s end.

Vargas scored a flash knockdown early in round after landing a straight left hand that surprised Castaneda.

Castaneda continued to follow Vargas in round three and be out-landed in the exchanges. Blood dripped from Castaneda’s nose in the closing moments of the round.

Castaneda’s attack improved in round four, but Vargas’ punching off of his movement, working both up and down, still troubled him noticeably.

Vargas continued to pop Castaneda and exit out to his right. Vargas led with right hooks to the body followed by right uppercuts or hooks to the head. Castaneda failed to put his shots together in bunches, especially as Vargas kept relocating.

RD06 Castaneda marched forward confidently to open round six – blood still flowing from his nose. Vargas worked his jab as the action stayed center-ring through the middle part of the round. Vargas went on a run over the final minute while Castaneda looked to land the heavier single shots.

Castaneda’s work-rate decreased in the seventh round. Vargas took advantage of Castaneda opting to rest. Castaneda landed some clubbing left hands to close the round, but Vargas’ volume likely carried the round.

Vargas landed a short right hand inside of a Castaneda punch around the end of the first minute. This followed another great period of work by Vargas. Over the final minute Castaneda moved around outside seemingly reluctant to engage and expose himself to more punishment.

Vargas touched up Castaneda’s head over the first minute of round nine. Castaneda seemed to grow content being just outside and letting his hands go as needed. Vargas inched his way inside to throw combinations and get out before being punched.

Castaneda pressed forward again through the first minute of the 10th and final round. Vargas’ work-rate never flattened, so the opening never presented itself for Castaneda to drop or stop Vargas.

Vargas’ scoring gap widened from 3-to-1 early to 4-1 or 5-1 over the backend of the fight. So much so that the judges unanimously scored the fight 98-91, 100-89 and 99-90 in favor of Vargas.

Jose Enrique Vivas (20-1, 11 KOs)  vs John Vincent Moralde (23-4, 13 KOs)

John Vincent Moralde’s night was over, in just 1:16, after being dropped by Jose Enrique Vivas for a second time after a body shot left him unable to defend himself. Vivas dropped Moralde for the first time after landing a left hook as the two were about to clinch.

Quinton Randall (7-0, 2 KOs) vs Jan Carlos Rivera (4-1, 4 KOs)

Quinton Randall, an undefeated 30-year old Welterweight from Houston, Texas outclassed Jan Carlos Rivera. Rivera came into the fight having stopped all four of his opponents. He forced the action early on, but Randall responded and fought with composure.

While Rivera flurried and pressed forward Randall moved back out of harm’s way, and placed counter punches underneath.

Rivera’s aggression paid off in round two when he slipped in a left hand that snapped Randall’s head. The shot barely fazed Randall.

Randall had all the answers the rest of the way, as he fought his way to scorecards of 59-55 and 58-56 in the eyes of two judges.

Jahi Tucker (2-0, 1 KO) vs Charles Garner (1-1)

Newcomer Jahi Tucker remained composed after an opening haymaker thrown by southpaw Charles Garner. Tucker, a 17-year old from Deer Park, New York, showed quite a bit of everything the rest of the way. He feinted, slid to angles, fought inside and took advantage of his height and range.

Tucker pushed the pace in second round. He kept his hands active, attacked Garner’s body and returned to the outside when he wanted to rest. The pressure resulted in a bloodied nose on Garner.

Garner took the fight to Tucker in the third frame. He attacked the body and pressed forward. Tucker displayed a mix of impressive boxing skills. The 5-foot 11-inch teenager kept the space to evade much of Garner’s attack with good head movement. He also punched with Garner when necessary.

Tucker’s performance wasn’t without error. He repeatedly punched while his feet weren’t set. For a kid who could be playing in some high school team’s secondary on a Saturday night, he impressed the judges enough to win 40-36 on the scorecard of all three judges.

All photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank