Brandon Berry’s return to the ring was successful Saturday as he posted a fourth-round technical knockout of Missouri’s Bryan Timmons in Windham, New Hampshire.
The boxing card was held before a gathering limited to boxing officials and event organizers but was broadcast on YouTube.
Berry’s scheduled eight-round welterweight (147-pout) bout marked more than the end of an 11-month layoff caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the West Forks native’s 25th professional fight.
Berry, who has a 18-5-2 record with 12 knockouts after securing his fifth straight victory, said demonstrating a willingness to take on an eight-round fight is important.
“With some of the fights that are the main goal to get, you have to have a few eight-rounders under your belt and I’d only had one so far,” he said. “This [was] my second, and it looks good to the larger promotions when you want one of those fights that all fighters hope to find themselves in, like some type of minor title fight or on TV.
Berry controlled the center of the ring against Timmons with his left jab and nearly scored knockdowns with stinging right hands during the waning seconds of both the second and third rounds.
The end came at 2:20 of the fourth round when Berry combined a right uppercut and two subsequent rights that didn’t knock Timmons down but sent him wobbling to the ropes, prompting referee Jackie Morrell to stop the bout.
“I think this fight was exactly what I needed after 11 months,” Berry said.
Fighting opportunities remain limited in the Northeast during the pandemic, but the 33-year-old Berry would like to fight again in 2020, but in his preferred junior welterweight (140-pound) division.
“I’m still trying to be really smart about a few things because we have goals in place and time is no longer on my side,” Berry said. “I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, but anything could happen.”