Thiranan Matsali vs. Edison Berwela RBR

Round 3

Matsali is picking off the southpaw's jabs and backing up. Berwela is right-hooking the raised left arm of Matsali down and in toward his sternum. Berwela showing the lad no respect, now. Berwela just barnstorming, throwing cheeky left uppercuts in mid-stride and following up with hooks leaving himself wide open to counters. Matsali in full retreat. Big looping shot catches Matsali with his feet crossed and he's given a count by the ref, to his surprise, though it was legit. Berwela is pressuring Matsali, giving him no quarter, looking to finish him, but lacks the precision, or perhaps the power.

10-8 Berwela

28-28

 

Aw, dude, if you stayed up for all that nonsense but then went to bed right before this started...I'm sorry.

This is ****ing great so far.

 

WTF!??!?! A bunch of fat pear-shaped Thai grannies wearing black leotards with pink tutus over them and tiaras, all seated in the front row and performing synchronized applause? This is real life??!

 

Round 4

Berwela really wants this upset. He is marching his man down, flicking the right hand but not actually throwing a jab, merely a watch-the-birdie to divert from his big overhand and uppercutting lefts. Matsali is tagged HARD, twice in a row, on the kisser, by straight lefts. Damn, this young man is getting his **** pushed in at the moment. Berwela smells blood in the water and moves in - and EATS A HUGE LASER-GUIDED COUNTER-RIGHT, STAGGERING HIM BACK SEVERAL STEPS. WHOA. Berwela approaches again, a little more cautiously this time. Matsali is boxing nicely on the backfoot now, pivoting off the ropes & picking his spots with jabs and single lead rights, but gave up too much of the first couple of minutes to salvage this one.

10-9 Berwela

38-37 Berwela

 

Edison Berwela is rapidly becoming one of my favorite journeymen. He has 4 - count 'em, four - career knockouts, in 60 bouts. 1 in 15. A rate of 7%. And he's in hostile territory here, very much "supposed to lose".

And he gives NO FUCKS. He is 100% convinced that he can put Matsali's lights out. And I'm like 83%.

 

Round 5

Berwela is hurling line drive left hands at the upper face of Matsali. A few get through and Matsali breaks into a trot. Berwela laughs and stomps after him. Berwela keeps attacking, leading sometimes with a throwaway jab up top and then alternating between low & high left crosses. Berwela does a little high-kicking foot-to-butt jig in place as he chases Matsali nearly into a corner and then squares up, hitting the brakes on his own momentum and keeping the circulation going. Matsali is battling back with some big right hands on the body now diving in & pulling quickly outside, but Berwela doesn't let him get a touch in unanswered.

10-9 Berwela

48-46 Berwela

 

Round 6

They're going to war!! Berwela is landing the heavier blows, while Matsali is connecting more sharply & plentifully. Body and head shots landing for both in a phonebooth. Matsali then wisely scoots out to mid-range, where his needling jab thrown in multiples is more effective. Lots of movement from Matsali now. A bit of showboating, loading up from a few paces off and charging in with a Roy Jones style superman punch.

10-9 Matsali

57-56 Berwela

edit: NO NEVER MIND. AT THE VERY LAST SECOND BERWELA LANDED A GINORMOUS FREAKING ROUNDHOUSE LEFT AND MATSALI SLAMMED INTO THE CANVAS, OUT COLD!!!

KO6!!!

 

This was incredible tbh. Easily the best boxing match I've ever stayed up until 3am to watch.

 

Edison's ring name is "Kamatis", which apparently translates into "tomato" in Tagalog.

Well, for Matsali, this became

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The audience is stunned. Upon return from commercial break, you could hear a pin drop in the outdoors venue.

The ring announcer, ref, everybody just looks so befuddled. Everyone, that is, save Berwela. He's just grinning ear to ear and raising his arms like Rocky.

 

Look at this happy ****ing guy.

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