Kristian Prenga Retains NBA World Heavyweight Title, Stops Torres in Two at 2300 Arena
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
In the main event of an eleven bout card billed ”Elite Fight Night’ at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, co-promoted by Kali Reis and Diane Fischer, Kohen Promotions and Dee Lee Promotions, on Friday, January 18, 2024, Kristian Prenga retained the lesser known NBA World heavyweight title with a second round stoppage over outmatched challenger Juan Torres, after knocking Torres down five times in a mismatch.
The three knockdown rule was not in effect in Pennsylvania after Prenga, 17-1 with seventeen knockouts, Edgewater, New Jersey by way of Orosh, Albania, dropped the southpaw Torres, now 11-8-1 with four knockouts, Cypress, Texas, three times in the first. Prenga, who at 6’5″ towered over the 6’1″ obese Torres, dropped Torres immediately after the opening bell with a liver shot.
Torres got up, but had nowhere to hide from Prenga’s meticulous body shots and head shot power shot combinations. The pro-Albanian crowd at ringside waving Albanian flags kept the noise decibel level high. However, one could see the game Torres was way outmatched, and looking for a place to hold or a place to hide. Torres threw some punches here or there, but seemed like he spent the majority of the bout on the canvas trying to get up. After getting knocked down a second time in the second round, the bout was waved off at 1:16 of the second round with Torres out on his feet. The NBA official at ringside was Samad Haq.
Prenga, trained by Muhammad Abdul Salaam in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, started his ring adventure as a kickboxer at age 20. Prenga turned professional as a boxer in 2016, and has 17 knockouts in his seventeen wins. His main event bouts have been characterized by the loud flag waving native Albanian fans at ringside cheering him on, which are quite a site as 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, and at The Prudential Center in Newark.
Two rising Hawaiian fighters brother and sister appeared on the undercard, rare because Hawaiian pro fighters are rare.
Super flyweight Shera Mae Patricio, 4-0 with two knockouts, Waianae, Hawaii, won a four round unanimous decision over Josefina Vega, 9-11 with four knockouts, Quito, Ecuador. Vega, age 40, who was knocked down in the third round, has lost her last eight bouts in a row, and though she fought bravely, should probably retire at this point. Vegas’s last five opponents had a combined record of 35-0-1 at the time she fought them. Vega, who has gone the distance with her last five opponents, has won only one round on her last 15 scorecards.
Her brother, bantamweight Lyndon Patricio, 3-0 with two knockouts, Waianae, Hawaii, stopped 0-3 Marcus DeCamp of Battle Creek, Michigan, at 2:02 of the third round.
Greg ‘Sharpshooter’ Outlaw, 17-2 with nine knockouts, Bowie, Maryland, retained his NBA International Super Lightweight title with a second round stoppage of Jetter Burgos, 8-3 with six knockouts, Bronx, New York. Outlaw knocked Burgos threw the ropes twice in the second round. Burgos gave up in his corner after the second round.
Super welterweight prospect Damian Tinnerello, 4-0 with four knockouts, Berlin, New Jersey, stopped Justin Clark, 1-3 with one knockout, Elberta, Alabama, at 1:03 of the first round.
Lightweight prospect Francisco Rodriguez, 6-0 with six knockouts, Pleasantville, New Jersey, stopped Ulises Carvajal, 5-19 with three knockouts, Chinandega, Alabama, at 2: 27 of the first round.
Super Welterweight prospect Kashad Elliott. 4-0 with four knockouts, of Plainfield, New Jersey, knocked out 1-3 journeyman Ryan Wilson of Charlotte, North Carolina, at 49 seconds of the first round.
Female featherweight prospect Tiara Brown, 18-0 with 11 knockouts, Lehigh Acres, Florida, AKA ‘The Dark Menace’, won every round on the scorecards of an eight rounder over aging former WBO Featherweight world title challenger Calista Silgado, 22-18-4 with 16 knockouts, Santiago de Tolu, Columbia. The bout appeared closer at ringside than the scorecards indicated. Silgado counterpunches tough from bell to bell, and would not back off, giving Brown her first real challenge.
Female super flyweight prospect LeAnna ‘Bumblebee’ Cruz, 10-0 with one knockout, Allentown, Pennsylvania, stopped Amy Naert, 11-5 with three knockouts, West Vlaanderen, Belgium, at 0:27 of the second round, finished Naert by sending her slumped to the canvas after a flurry in her own corner.
Welterweight prospect Tyreem Haywood, 4-0 with four knockouts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, knocked out 1-2 Yeison Alejandro Hernandez Pitino, a Columbian fighting out of Saint Louis, Missouri at 26 seconds of the first round. A thunderous left hook to the head off of a combination send Pitino spiraling backwards momentarily unconscious, with referee Dave Braslow immediately waving a halt to the contest.
David McWater super middleweight prospect Matthew Nore, Auburn, Georgia by way of Newburgh, New York, got taken on a surprising four round trip to hell by journeyman Nissan Anderson, 1-7-2 with one knockout, Deerfield Beach, Florida. Anderson came in top condition, which was not indicated by his record, and went toe to toe with Nore for all four rounds. Nore outboxed Anderson, but was tiring and breathing hard over the last two rounds, allowing Anderson to remain in the house. Scoring was 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 Nore.
A scheduled welterweight bout between veteran Henry ‘Hank’ Lundy and Daiyaan Butt was cancelled when Lundy showed up over the contractual weight limit. Well known Philadelphia cut man Joey Eye, who gets paid by the round, chewing on a Q-Tip while working the ‘B’ corner, did not get much of a chance to work, waiting in vain as five of the fighters in the ‘B’ corners he was working got knocked out or stopped in the first round. Famed Philadelphia promoter Russell Peltz was in attendance at ringside.
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