‘Monster’ night for Canadian heavyweight
Mladen “The Monster” Miljas demonstrated he has scary power in both fists Friday night at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre.
The heavyweight from Mississauga, Ont., took the Canadian heavyweight title from defending champion Dillon “Big Country” Carman with an awesome display of force.
Carman and Miljas nailed each other with huge left hooks at the exact same time in the first round. Both went down and then got up none the worse for wear. Carman clapped his gloves together in response to the surreal moment. But his delight was short-lived.
In the second round, Miljas nailed Carman with a left hook on the ropes and the former champion went down. A few second later, Miljas hammered Carman with a left-right combination and the Madoc, Ont., native went down again, prompting referee Mark Simmons to stop the fight at 1:21 of the second.
Miljas captured the Canadian title in only his eighth pro fight and now has eight knockouts in as many contests. He’s not the slickest and most refined heavyweight in the world, but the 25-year-old has incredible knockout potential.
“I’ll be back in the gym on Monday morning,” said Miljas, who used to train with Carman. “That’s the kind of work ethic I have.”
Miljas had some hard words for his former training partner before Friday’s fight, needling him for not training hard.
“He does eat cupcakes and he doesn’t train very hard,” said Miljas. “That’s his problem. He turned pro just as I started boxing and we were never supposed to meet in the ring. But because he doesn’t work hard enough, I caught up to him and now here I am.”
Carman commented before the fight he was surprised Miljas said some nasty things about him, but has no hard feelings. Inside the dressing rooms after the knockout, Carman hugged Miljas and said he was proud of him.
Many fight observers considered Carman (12-3) the favourite, but for all his inexperience, Miljas is making a name for himself.
Heavyweight boxer Kristian Prenga faced Mexican fighter Alfredo Trevino in the undercard. Lee Trevino probably would have put up a better fight.
Trevino (9-3-1) came into the ring overweight, overmatched and overhyped, though with a decent record. Prenga made quick work of the portly Mexican, recording an explosive second-round TKO to improve his record to 6-1 with six KOs.
The much taller and fitter Prenga sent Trevino to the canvas in the first round when he hammered his foe with a right to the body. Trevino survived the eight count. In the second, Prenga smacked Trevino with a left to the body followed by a left to the head and the Mexican went down again with referee Floyd Porter stopping the fight 46 seconds into the round.