By Jake Donovan
He didn't stick around very long, but left a lasting impression with a 1st round knockout of France's Chaquib Fadli.
The bout gained unexpected airtime on Spike TV, thanks to the early ending in the opening bout of the telecast courtesy of Thomas Williams' 2nd round knockout of Humberto Savigne. Perrella (12-0, 11KOs) was even quicker in his destruction of Fadli, scoring two knockdowns in the opening round before forcing the stoppage at 1:30 of round one.
A body shot forced Fadli (13-6, 7KOs) to double over, with referee Keith Hughes ruling that the ropes prevented his fall and thus ruling it a knockdown. Perrella immediately went back on the attack from the moment Fadli rose to his feet, dishing out a beating in his opponent's corner before forcing a second knockdown.
Fadli wanted to take an eight count and continue, but was overruled by the referee who wisely stopped the fight.
Perrella racks up his 6th career 1st round knockout, having now stopped his last nine foes.
Thoughts and prayers are with Fadli and his team, who have to travel back home to France. The 34-year old lives four hours away from Paris, which is now on strict curfew after a horrific attack on Friday, with more than 150 people having been killed as gunfire runs rampant.
NON-TV UNDERCARD
Alantez "SlyAzA" Fox picked up his second win in the span of four weeks, forcing Todd Manuel to retire on his stool following four one-sided rounds of middleweight action.
Fox (18-0-1, 7KOs) looked sharp from the opening bell, scoring both to the body and with long right hands upstairs. Manuel - who accepted the fight on less than one week notice after three other opponents said "Thanks but no thanks" - was dropped in round three and complaining of blurred vision after the fourth round. His corner erred on the side of caution and informed referee Keith Hughes to stop the fight.
The official time was 3:00 of round four.
Fox - 6'5" and just 23 years old - made his debut at middleweight and plans to remain at the weight at least until he's ready to challenge for a world title, which he hopes is as early as next year.
Nicholas Gavhin barely kept his unbeaten record intact, settling for a six-round majority decision over Juan Santiago. Scores were 57-57 even, 58-57 and 58-56 in favor of Gavhin (16-0-1, 10KOs), who put in work against an opponent who showed signs of a concussion but whose health was ignored by everyone with the power to do more.
Santiago was far too brave for his own good, throwing up near the end of round three and complaining of migraines as he was repeatedly struck with rabbit punches. Referee Fred Steinwinder III - who is also officiating the main event - never issued a warning, nor did he or the ringside physician check on Santiago at any point during the fight.
Gavhin goes the distance for the second straight time, as he was held to a draw in his previous ring appearance. To his credit, he knew he gave away key moments in rounds that wound up going in the opposite direction.
Radivoje Kalajdzic was perhaps in a hurry to hit the casino floors at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, as he wasted no time in blasting out Brazil's Fabio Garrindo in just 19 seconds.
The unbeaten cruiserweight - Bosnia born but now based out of St. Petersburg, Florida - landed a right hand a mere three seconds into the fight. Garrindo (28-5-1, 23KOs) - fighting in the United States for the first time in his career - slowly collapsed to the canvas, barely beating the count but never gaining his balance as referee Fred Steinwinder III stopped the contest.
Kalajdzic (21-0, 14KOs) now has 1st round knockouts in each of his last two starts.
Darwin Price worked hard to earn his ninth pro win in as many fights, taking an eight-round decision over Mexico's Alvaro Ortiz. Scores were 80-72 across the board for Price (9-0, 5KOs), who is based out of Houston and trains with Ronnie Shields. Ortiz (7-6-1, 5KOs) is 0-4-1 in 2015, but has now gone the distance with three straight unbeaten fighters, all in the span of just 60 days.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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