SKOWHEGAN, Maine — Brandon Berry worked the aisles and hallways of the Skowhegan Community Center before his return to professional boxing Saturday night, pausing for autographs and photographs as he thanked fans for their continued support.
It was more of the same for Berry at the end of the evening, only this time the handshakes and conversations were congratulatory for the junior welterweight from tiny West Forks.
Those congratulations acknowledged the work “The Cannon” turned in during the show — a second-round technical knockout of veteran Engelberto Valenzuela before a supportive crowd of 750.
“I was ready for a tough fight,” said Berry, now 9-1 with six knockouts as a professional. “It’s a lesson learned. Sometimes when you’re ready for a tough fight you can make it like this. I was ready for whatever he brought and I adapted to it and am happy with the outcome.”
The end to the scheduled six-round bout came somewhat inevitably and surprisingly at the same time.
Berry, boxing for the first time since he injured his left shoulder Nov. 15 during the first round of a loss to unbeaten Freddy Sanchez at the Portland Exposition Building, came out aggressively against the taller Valenzuela.
But while the left jab was at the foundation of Berry’s game plan, body punches were the decisive blows from the first minute of combat until referee Mike Ryan stopped the bout at 2:20 of the second round after Berry landed a flurry of unanswered strikes against his retreating foe.
“I felt great, and I was expecting a tough fight from Engelberto but I noticed right in the first round I hit him with a right hook to the body just under his elbow and I saw him wince a little bit,” Berry said. “An experienced fighter like him wouldn’t do that unless it really hurt, so I feel like I hurt him but played it off a little and backed up and started going upstairs again to make him realize that maybe I didn’t see it.
“Second round I hurt him again to the body. Body shots are what did it. It is what it is. It wasn’t necessarily part of my game plan but I think we worked on speed and that set everything up.”
The end came shortly after Berry sent his opponent, a 31-year-old native of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, to the canvas on one knee with a right hook to the liver. Valenzuela got up and took Ryan’s eight-count but had little left as Berry turned up the heat and unleashed his finishing barrage.
“I knew he was bigger, taller and more experienced, but I at least wanted to set the tone with my jab and I did that right off quick,” Berry said. “I was landing the jab easier than I thought, and I don’t know if that was a combination of my speed and him not adapting, but he came from a long ways away so I’m not taking anything away from him — I know he came here not to just fall like that so whatever I did must have worked.”
Berry’s triumphant return to action followed the first extended layoff of his professional boxing career, an eight-month break that included surgery to repair his injured shoulder on Jan. 15 and subsequent physical rehabilitation that led to his return to full workouts at Wyman’s Boxing Club in Stockton Springs.
“All in all I’m satisfied with the performance,” Ken “Skeet” Wyman, Berry’s trainer, said, “because Brandon was fast if not faster than he’s ever been. We had the best training camp we’ve ever had.”
Berry, who fought his first nine bouts within 18 months after turning professional in May 2013, acknowledged the energy boost his unplanned respite provided.
“It felt amazing,” he said. “I was in the locker room getting ready and Skeet said, ‘Do you want to keep hitting the pads?’ I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ I was ready for a workout. I felt so good, so rested mentally.
“I got to sit back and think about some stuff, but I’m glad I’m back and I’m ready to move it up a level. I’m ready for the next level and win or lose I know I’m ready to do that and I can take it either way.”
The Berry-Valenzuela matchup was one of two professional bouts on the six-fight card.
Middleweight Jason “The Fighting Fireman” Quirk of the Portland Boxing Club ground out a four-round split decision over Mike Rodriguez of Springfield, Massachusetts, in the co-main event.
The bout was difficult to score, with Quirk trying to get inside against the taller and rangier Rodriguez, leading to considerable clutching and holding that diminished the bout’s rhythm.
But while the unbeaten Quirk (4-0) won all four rounds (40-36) on one judge’s scorecard and three rounds (39-37) according to another judge, the third judge had Rodriguez a 39-37 victor.
The amateur card was highlighted by Christian Fisk of Rockport and Wyman’s Boxing Club, who earned fighter of the night and fight of the night honors with his come-from-behind third-round technical knockout victory over Patrick Brothers of Lowell, Massachusetts.
Other amateur winners were Isaac Escobar of Lewiston and Cugno’s Boxing Club of Canaan, Sasha Lamour of the Portland Boxing Club, and Matthew Probin of Cugno’s, who edged Joshua Price of Wyman’s Boxing Club in their three-round contest.
