Antonio Perinchief earned a thrilling victory in an absolute tear-up against Mark Prior on the amateur undercard at the Fairmont Southampton on Saturday.

Perinchief lit the touch paper of this explosive encounter — awarded the Fight of the Night — early in the opening round when he floored Prior with a big right hand.

Prior is as tough as teak, though, and recovered quickly before applying serious pressure of his own but swallowed two more heavy rights towards the end of the round.

Although Prior was forcing Perinchief onto the ropes and getting the better of their close-range exchanges during the second, he continually undid his good work by being caught on the way out by booming straight rights.

Debutant Perinchief, of Controversy Gym, doubled up with another pair of power punches to stagger Prior, but the Bermuda Sanshou Association fighter shook himself back into life as the pair traded blows until the bell.

A Bermuda rugby sevens player, Perinchief was showing plenty of heart himself as Prior continued to press in the third and for a brief moment the Bermudian fireman appeared to be extinguishing the flames of his visibly more tired opponent.

Although Perinchief was running low on gas, he dug deep into his energy reserves and continued to catch Prior who refused to take a step back throughout the ferocious contest.

Perinchief, who was awarded a unanimous win, praised Prior’s never-say-die spirit and admits he had very little left in the tank at the end of the bout.

“I heard he was a fit guy and knew he would be the type of fighter who would be pressuring me the whole fight,” said the welterweight. “My main strategy was to pick my moments and that worked out pretty well.

“I saw that I dazed him in the first round and went for the knock-down and got it.

“He got straight back up, though, and I was like, ‘Damn, I just took up half my energy on that!’”

Prior admits he could have fought a technically better fight and was disappointed he rushed his pressure during the final round.

“I felt tight on the inside but as soon as I popped up I dropped my hands and that’s when he was strong,” Prior said. “I felt his power, but he never really hurt me.

“I could see him gas in the third and I was on him and landed as hard as I could, but at that point I was in kill mode and didn’t control my pace.”

Tyler Christopher, of Forty Rego’s Gym, cruised to a unanimous points victory in his lightweight bout against Gilbert Vargas, of Baltimore Boxing Club.

Christopher, who lost his unbeaten record against Baltimore’s Jason Canamaso at the Berkeley Institute in December, returned to winning ways with an impressive display, dictating the pace with his jab and continually catching Vargas with his straight left.

“I learnt from my last fight that I have to be more aggressive,” said the southpaw. “I’ve been working on hitting first and hitting last, and that’s what I did.

“I didn’t want to lose my last fight, but I probably needed it to make me a better fighter.”

Christopher heads to the Arnold USA Invitational Championships in Columbus, Ohio, next month along with team-mate Andre Lambe, who had a first-round stoppage win over Gilbert in December. Lambe was awarded a walkover victory on Saturday after his opponent Canamaso failed to show.

Billed as the Greatest Fight Night, the other bouts saw Matthew Tannock, of Rego’s Gym, stop Cyril Whitter, of BSA, in the second round of their welterweight bout, while Courtney Dublin, of Police Gym, recorded a unanimous points win over Jaylon Roberts, of Rego’s Gym, in a light-heavyweight bout.

Deondre Morris was victorious in the first full-rules Muay Thai fight in Bermuda with a unanimous points win over Othneil Gordon, of the Martial Arts and Fitness Academy in Brampton, Ontario.

“I could have executed a bit better, but I was just trying to feel him out and not burn out too early,” said Morris, of the Bermuda Karate Institute.

“I was just trying to use a couple of tools and to see how he got around them.

“I wanted to make sure that Bermuda saw true Muay Thai — that was my goal tonight.”

In the only women’s bout, Krista Dyer, of BSA, dominated her kick-boxing match against Ashley Knafo, of Southside Muay Thai in Scarborough, Ontario.

“I felt like I had good control and that’s what I’m most pleased about,” Dyer said.

“I’ve definitely been growing stronger and making the most of my power was part of our game plan.

“I was looking to put all my effort behind each punch and let her know that I meant business.”

Samir Furqan, of the BSA, lost by a unanimous decision to Campbell Paton, of WCMA in Peterborough, Ontario, in a kick-boxing bout.

Keanu Wilson, of the BSA, had his match cancelled after Hassan Babatunde, of Redemption Muay Thai in Bowmanville, Ontario, pulled out because of illness.