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Another Maine sporting event has fallen victim to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with the postponement of a pro-am boxing show scheduled to be held April 25 at the Skowhegan Community Center.
Two professional bouts and seven amateur contests were set to be contested during the show, promoted by West Forks super lightweight Brandon “The Cannon” Berry.
“I watched real closely and I could tell it was coming,” Berry said of the postponement. “I was listening to the town manager and the manager of the rec center and they just kind of kept saying let’s hold off for a few days and see what happens, but it got to the point where we couldn’t hold off any longer.
“And let’s be honest, I don’t think there’s a sporting event in the whole country that’s going on during April.”
Berry has not set a new date for the show but plans to reschedule the card as soon as similar events begin taking place again around Maine and the nation.
“I don’t dare to really set a new date yet until things are a little bit more clear,” he said. “I would love to do it immediately, I would love to say May, but I don’t think May’s going to happen.
“If there wasn’t so much money wrapped up in the beginning stages of a promotion I would reschedule but I don’t dare to because I’m already losing money with the posters and tickets for this one and I don’t want to do that again until we’re sure.”
Berry expects to have most of those bouts planned for the April card ready to go when he is able to reschedule the event.
One of the amateur headliners is expected to be Benton teenager Braden Littlefield and Cugno Boxing in Lewiston. The pro card is expected to feature Berry and Portland junior middleweight Josniel “TG” Castro in separate bouts.
The 32-year-old Berry is 17-5-2 with 11 knockouts as a professional with victories in his last four bouts, most recently a second-round technical knockout of James Roach (5-3) of Grove, Oklahoma, last Nov. 9 at the Portland Expo.
Castro, a nationally ranked welterweight as an amateur fighting out of the Portland Boxing Club, made a successful pro debut on that same November card at the Expo with a second-round TKO of Leonardo Ladeira.
He is scheduled to face Canadian Dominic Cloutier at the rescheduled Skowhegan show.
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