Prenga delivers the knockout blow to Arnold. Photo by David Algranati/The Fight Photos
NEWARK – Heavyweight prospect Kristian Prenga is the type of puncher who only needs to hit it once. Unfortunately for Christopher Arnold, it didn’t take him long to get it right.
The Albanian big man finished things with a single right hand, flooring his smaller opponent and suddenly stopping the fight at the 2:27 mark of their scheduled eight-round fight at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The fight was highlighted on the undercard of the inaugural card of Brick City Friday Night Fights, a new series promoted by GH3 Promotions that aims for 3-4 cards per year at the home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. It was announced that attendance at the card was 4,651 people, with half of the place closed with curtains.
Prenga, 32, of Edgewater, New Jersey, from Orosh, Albania has won 11 straight since his only loss, a points loss to Giovanni Auriemma in Holland. Prenga disputes the loss to the fighter he had previously stopped, saying that Auriemma had lured him into a rematch in his home country, he fought to survive and the referee, who was the sole judge of the fight, awarded him a points victory. .
Prenga, trained by Muhammad Abdul Salaam, brings a large contingent of Albanian fans to each of his fights.
The loss is the third in a row, all by knockout, for Arnold of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Edwards repeats victory over Lee
After two fights and two majority decisions, it became clear that Rickey Edwards was the wrong man for Michael Lee.
Skilled spoiler Edwards (14-5, 3 KOs) of Paterson scored a second straight victory over Lee (10-3, 7 KOs) of Jersey City. One judge had the fight tied 57-57 while the other two scored it 59-55 and 58-56 for Edwards.
It was clear from the opening bell that Edwards’ movement and jab were a puzzle that Lee would have a hard time solving. Edwards controlled the first round as Lee walked forward with his guard up but without a jab. Lee had the most success of him in the second round when a right hand momentarily surprised Edwards, but Edwards returned to his boxing stance in the third round, landing consistently with his right hand. Sensing the fight slipping away from him, Lee began looking for a punch that could turn the fight, but more often than not found himself reaching for it while Edwards fired and evaded.
The fight was the first for Edwards, 33, since his first victory over Lee in May 2022, while Lee, 28, has his two-fight winning streak snapped.
As is often the case, Johns was the smaller fighter between the two, as he often has to fight larger opponents due to the shortage of lighter weight fighters in the northeast region. Johns, 30, last fought in September, losing a controversial majority decision to local fighter Misael Graffioli in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Dwyke Flemmings Jr. had the most explosive performance of the first card. The middleweight from Paterson, New Jersey turned out the lights on Luis Briceño (3-5, 3 KOs) with a single right hand, ending the fight just 45 seconds into the fight. The knockout blow came from a dismissive shrug by Briceño following a body shot.
Flemmings Jr., 20, won all five of his fights by knockout, but says this was his most professional knockout.
“I took my time, used my jab and set up a perfect punch and it worked,” said Flemmings, who is trained by his father Dwyke Flemmings Sr.
Flemmings, a 2018 US Youth Olympic finalist, says the goal is to get at least seven fights in 2024 before aiming for a minor title.
Anthony Johns (7-1, 5 KOs) showed there were no ill effects from his first loss, defeating the overmatched Israel Camacho (2-10) to a four-round unanimous decision victory in their junior bantamweight bout. Johns, the 2019 Golden Gloves national champion, earned a shutout decision with scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards.
John Vallejo opened the card with a slick four-round unanimous decision over Rashad Bogar in a junior welterweight bout. Vallejo (5-0, 2 KOs), a southpaw from Paterson, New Jersey, boxed and chose his spots to attack Bogar (4-10-1, 2 KOs) of Newark, who was fighting for the first time since 2018.
Two judges scored a 40-36 shutout, while the third scored it 39-37.
Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark School of Journalism Class of 2020. You can contact him at [email protected].
