After three years, Edgar Berlanga finally was able to end his three-year knockout drought on Saturday night.

Berlanga dropped previously unbeaten Irishman Padraig McCrory with an overhand right in the sixth round, prompting the corner to throw in the towel at the 2:44 mark, giving Berlanga a technical knockout victory at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Fla.

Berlanga (22-0, 17 knockouts) of Brooklyn, N.Y. had not scored a knockout since December of 2020, when he scored his 16th straight first round KO to start his career.

McCrory (18-1, 9 KOs) of Belfast, Northern Ireland was fighting outside of Europe for the first time in his seven year career.

The 26-year-old Berlanga and promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing has been hoping that a spectacular win could open the door to a mega-money showdown with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion. Hearn said afterwards that he thinks that fight is “only a matter of time,” saying that he thinks the fight should happen in May or September.

Berlanga did his part to build support for the matchup, asking the crowd in Orlando, which has one of the largest Puerto Rican communities in the continental U.S., if they wanted that bout.

Berlanga controlled the fight most of the way, but still showed some signs of frustration, hitting McCrory with an intentional elbow in the third round. The act of aggression seemed to shake up McCrory, who was hurt for the first time in round 3 with a right hand from Berlanga. Berlanga hurt McCrory again in the fourth round, beating him to the punch with a left hook and then opening up along the ropes.

DOWN GOES MCCRORY AND IT'S OVER 🔥🔥🔥

Sixth round KO 💣#BerlangaMcCrory | @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/ywvdpFoSE9

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) February 25, 2024

McCrory, whose record was built mostly against unknown opposition, began lunging in to try and smother Berlanga, but the end was imminent in the sixth, as right hands rained down with worrying accuracy.

Andy Cruz, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, went the distance for the second time as a pro, defeating Brayan Zamarripa by unanimous decision in a ten-round scheduled lightweight bout.

The scores were 100-90 on all three cards, all for Cruz (3-0, 2 KOs), who has been a pro since last July.

Cruz, 28, was in total command throughout, walking down Zamarripa (14-3, 5 KOs) and landing consistently with the right hand to the head and body of his southpaw opponent, who was fighting for the first time outside of his native Mexico.

Cruz, who is now trained by Jaron Ennis’ father/trainer Derek “Bozy” Ennis Sr., appeared to be close to a stoppage in the sixth and seventh rounds, as he busted his nose and opened up in combinations. Cruz appeared to take his foot off the gas pedal in the eighth round, enabling Zamarripa to survive.

Cruz landed 46 of his punches, compared to just 20 percent from Zamarripa. Cruz was credited with landing 142 of his 312 attempts, while Zamarripa landed just 26 of 133 attempts.

In a less-than-stellar outing, Shakhram Giyasov (15-0, 9 KOs) won an eleven round technical decision over former title challenger Pablo Cesar Cano (25-9-1, 25 KOs) by unanimous scores of 109-99. The fight was stopped after the eleventh round, when the 34-year-old Cano fell down after the bell and injured his right foot.

Giyasov, 30, of Bukhara, Uzbekistan scored a knockdown in round three with a left hook to the body, but spent most of the fight in counterpuncher mode against Cano. Cano appeared to drop Giyasov in round nine when a short hook grazed his chin, but it was scored a slip.

The fight was a WBA welterweight elimination bout, with Giyasov already rated no. 1 at the weight.

The loss snaps a two-fight winning streak for Cano, who was knocked out in two rounds by Danielito Zorrilla in September of 2021.