Adrian Roach prepared for tougher tests that lie ahead with a unanimous decision victory over American teenager Luis Portillo at The Shed in Dockyard.

The two fighters almost came to blows a day before their bout, after exchanging harsh words during the weigh in.

When the opportunity came to engage in a legal fight, a curtain-raiser to the headline bout, Roach exhibited why he is Bermuda’s top amateur boxer.

Roach controlled the first round with punches to Portillo’s face and body. The second round was characterised by a lot of holding by the two boxers, with not much action taking place.

Portillo came out firing in the final round, before the Bermudian regained control and finished off strongly to comfortably win the three-round contest.

“The fight was good,’’ Roach said. “I showed that I do have a very high skills set. He said that he wasn't impressed with my skills.

“He said that I was nothing, he made all these remarks, talked a lot of stuff. I showed him today that I’m a superior boxer.

“I could have stopped him later in the fight, but I’m happy with my performance overall.

“I have three fights coming up next month, one in New York, two in Houston, Texas so I’ll be back overseas competing in those fights.

“This one was like a little warm up, I feel sharp right now going into my three fights next month. I feel like I’m going to be victorious, if I keep up with performances like that.”

Portillo, 18, was not too concerned by his loss since Roach is older than him and has also been fighting longer.

“At the end of the day, I was here, got the experience,’’ Portillo said.

“I've been fighting for 2½ years, I know he’s quite experienced but at the end of the day I took him on.

“I've got eight fights, still novice level but no excuses, he was the better man tonight. I’m 18, he’s 21, I’ll come back stronger.”

Portillo was one of three boxers brought by trainer Ronny Pisano from Washington.

Pisano, 46, defeated Bermuda’s renowned boxing coach, 52-year old Leo Richardson, on a split decision in a masters exhibition match that set the tone for the rest of the evening.

In the second masters contest, Garon Wilkinson prevailed on a split decision over Jared Jimenez.

An unfortunate elbow injury to Tristan Burgess in the first round of his amateur fight with Musa Abdual‐Jabbar saw the referee stop the fight, with the bout awarded to his opponent.

Zane Furbert recorded a split decision win against Qier Yparguire. Hicham Cruz from the US won on a unanimous decision over Bermudian Ethan Daniels.

Le’Jai Tucker and Isaiah Marques put up a great amateur display in which the former prevailed on a split verdict, while Bruce Perinchief claimed a unanimous decision victory against American Luis Carranza.

In the only kickboxing contest of the night, Enzi Johnston recorded a technical knockout against Rhiannon Morgan, after her opponent’s camp threw in the towel when it became clear that the fight was lopsided.