LEWISTON, Maine — Any criticism about the undefeated start to Brandon “The Cannon” Berry’s professional boxing career have centered on the quality of his opposition.
Three of the undefeated junior welterweight’s first seven foes were making their professional debuts while the other four opponents entered the ring against the 27-year-old West Forks native with a combined one career victory.
But Berry’s path to whatever lies ahead in the sport for him is expected to be more difficult Saturday night, when he battles Eric Palmer of Pittsburgh in the six-round main event of New England Fights’ inaugural boxing show at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
At stake is a Northeast junior welterweight championship belt.
While Berry is 7-0 with five knockouts, 23-year-old Palmer is 4-3-3.
“He’s got more professional boxing experience than me and also had a good amateur background, from what I’ve heard,” said Berry, who trains at Wyman’s Boxing Club in Stockton Springs.
“I’m looking at him as a pretty dangerous guy, especially with where he comes from. A good boxer can come from anywhere, but he’s from an area where he probably sees tough opposition all the time training and in his amateur fights and in his pro fights. I’m just looking forward to a really good match.”
Palmer’s fighting experience isn’t confined to boxing. He was the lightweight champion of the 2012 West Virginia Toughman competition.
“If I want to get in there and try to rough him up a little bit, it’s definitely not going to be anything new to him,” Berry said. “All it is is more experience in front of a crowd in a combat sport. That’s definitely to his advantage, but I’m ready.”
Only two of Berry’s fights have reached the fourth round — the first a fourth-round knockout of Bill Jones in his pro debut in May 2013 and the second a four-round unanimous decision over Josh Parker in North Anson last April.
Palmer is coming off a four-round loss by unanimous decision to Derick Lambert on July 17 at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, ending a two-fight winning streak.
The bout will be Berry’s second in less than a month, following a first-round victory by a knockout over Theo Desjardin at Manchester, New Hampshire on Sept. 18.
“I think this is the perfect step,” Berry said. “When this guy came along and the Northeast title came into play I was more than excited about it. I think this is an appropriate time, and I’m definitely ready.”
Gamache returns to ring
Among the fights scheduled for Saturday night’s undercard is the hometown professional boxing debut of 31-year-old Steven Gamache.
The son of former World Boxing Association super featherweight and lightweight champion Joey Gamache of Lewiston, Gamache is scheduled to fight Damon Antoine of Akron, Ohio, in a four-round junior middleweight bout.
The fight will be the first in nearly two years for Steven Gamache, 4-0, with one knockout as a pro. He recently moved back to Maine after spending several years living and training in New York.
Gamache planned to make his pro debut in Lewiston in 2010, but professional boxing was illegal in the state at the time after the Maine Boxing Commission was disbanded three years earlier in a cost-cutting move. Pro boxing was reinstated in Maine in 2013.
Other bouts on the card include the co-main event matching Canadian light middleweight champion Brandon Brewer of Fredericton, New Brunswick, in a six-round non-title bout against Saul Almeida and four-round bouts featuring junior middleweights Bruce Boyington and Nate Charles, super middleweights Joel Bishop and Jared Lawton, lightweights James Carville and Johnny Frazier, and a light heavyweight clash between 46-year-old John Webster of Portland and John Downey.
Portland’s Abiague takes first loss
Portland Boxing Club bantamweight Jorge Abiague suffered his first professional loss last Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Abiague dropped a unanimous decision to Nate Green of New Haven, Connecticut, in their six-round battle of unbeatens.
Abiague (6-1) sustained a significant head-butt during the first round, and Green (6-0) remained the busier of the two fighters during the duration of the bout.
Abiague will seek to bounce back Nov. 15, when he fights on a card scheduled for the Portland Exposition Building.
That card — the 100th promoted by the Portland Boxing Club — will include bouts involving Berry, undefeated New England middleweight champion Russell Lamour Jr. of Portland and the professional debut of New England Golden Gloves middleweight champion Jason “Portland’s Fighting Fireman” Quirk.
Special guest for the event is Olympic gold medalist and former world light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Michael Spinks.
