LEWISTON — Brandon Berry looked at the new belt around his waist.
“It feels good,” Berry said. “It feels like it belongs here.”
Videos
With his unanimous decision win over Eric Palmer at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday night, Berry improved his professional boxing record to 8-0 and earned his first title, the Northeast Junior Welterweight title.
Berry was the winner of the six-round fight on all three judges’ scorecards: 60-55, 60-54, and 59-55.
Berry said a key to the fight was consistently landing his jab.
“(Palmer) had his moments of course, but right from the opening bell I got that jab going,” Berry said. “Skeet (Ken “Skeet” Wyman, Berry’s trainer) has preached it for years, and now I’m a firm believer. That jab makes things happen.”
Berry took control of the fight with a series of combination punches to Palmer’s head and body in the second and third rounds.
While Palmer landed some punches, none was the kind of blow that shook Berry.
“I feel like I won every round, but the man was in the fight the whole time,” Berry said. “Some of his shots, he was swinging them hard. I avoided a lot of them, for sure. He was a dangerous competitor. He was game the whole time. He was ready to keep going.”
A left-right combination to Palmer’s face helped Berry in the fourth round. In the fifth and sixth rounds, the crowd showed its appreciation for the West Forks native, with chants of “Berry! Berry!”
After the fight, Palmer said Berry deserved to win, calling him “a tough son of a (gun).” Berry praised Palmer’s tenacity.
“The man was dangerous. We knew we couldn’t take chances. He was a tough competitor,” Berry said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.