Kownacki and Mati join Berlanga vs Quigley on June 24

Adam Kownacki fights Joe Cusumano, while Reshat Mati meets Wesley Ferrer

Edgar Berlanga won’t be the only New Yorker in action when he faces Jason Quigley in his June 24th Matchroom debut. The promotion announced today that Brooklyn’s Adam Kownacki and Staten Island’s Reshat Mati are set for their first bouts of 2023 at Madison Square Garden.

Kownacki (20-3, 15 KO) hasn’t tasted victory since winning a record-breaking high-volume slugfest with Chris Arreola in 2019. A shocking upset knockout loss to Robert Helenius dashed his hopes of contention and a disastrous rematch had most calling for his retirement. Though he fell short once again last year against Ali Eren Demirezen, he looked a hell of a lot better than he did in the second Helenius fight, so I’m not opposed to seeing him return.

He’s in pretty light against Joe Cusumano (21-4, 19 KO), who got euthanized by Daniel Dubois a couple years back.

“I am excited to be back at Madison Square Garden,” said Kownacki. “MSG is where I had my first success as a boxer winning the NY Golden Gloves, and my fifth pro fight where I came out victorious and started my run to become a top five Heavyweight. MSG is will once again be the starting point of something special for me, as I resurrect my career.”

“We’re are excited for this opportunity to fight In the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden,” said Cusumano. “Adam is a tough fighter but I’m preparing for war on June 24.”

Mati (13-0, 7 KO) had his first 10-rounder last October, scoring a unanimous decision over Eduardo Leonel Rodriguez on the Lara-Sanmartin undercard. This time around, he fights Brooklynite Wesley Ferrer (17-1-1, 8 KO), who’s coming off a majority decision over Jayson Velez.

“I can’t wait to be back in the ring after my latest layoff,” said Mati. “I’m looking forward to going out there and winning in style and win over the entire crowd at MSG.

“I will have huge support from my Albanian fan base on June 24 and I’ll definitely look to make a statement that night in the 140lb division.”

“This is a great opportunity from Matchroom to fight an undefeated guy like Reshat,” said Ferrer. “He will bring all his Albanian fans to the Garden, and that will only add more fuel to this match-up, because I know my fans will be there to make it a hell of a night for every fan in attendance. Move over, there’s a new sheriff in town.”