Perez still in perfect shape

Cork-based Cuban heavyweight Mike ‘The Rebel’ Perez secured a major scalp on Saturday night when overcoming the previously undefeated Russian Magomed Abdusalamov at Madison Square Garden.

Perez, who came to Ireland in 2008, has now extended his professional record to an incredible 20 wins without defeat and secured massive TV exposure on the undercard of middleweight Gennady Golovkin’s title defence against Curtis Stevens. The judges scored it 97-92, 97-92 and 95-94 to Perez, who dominated the final rounds of a bruising battle in the Big Apple.

“This was the toughest guy I faced,” Perez admitted. “He hurt me a number of times, but I was able to keep on going. The difference was my conditioning. It was my first time training with Abel Sanchez in California and it made all the difference in the world.