By Francisco Salazar

Another fight, another first-round knockout for hard-hitting Edgar Berlanga.

The unbeaten Berlanga dropped Gregory Trenel before the fight was stopped in the opening round Saturday night at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.

With the victory, the 22-year-old Berlanga, who resides in the New York City area and is of Puerto Rican descent, improves to 12-0, with all 12 knockouts coming in the first round.

Trenel, who had never been stopped in any of his losses, attempted to give Berlanga a test or take him to the later rounds. That did not happen as Berlanga's aggression and power forced Trenel to fight defensively about a minute into the round.

About midway through the round, Berlanga stunned Trenel with a sweeping left hook to the temple. A few seconds later, another left hook dropped Trenel to the canvas. Trenel beat the count, but it was only a matter of time before Berlanga would end matters.

Later in the round, Berlanga battered Trenel, punctuated with an uppercut to the head prompted referee Benjy Esteves to stop the bout at 2:24.

Trenel, who resides in Dainville, France, falls to 11-5-2, 3 KOs.

In a clash of unbeaten welterweights who reside in Philadelphia, Paul Kroll (5-0, 4 KOs) defeated Shinard Bunch by unanimous decision.

It was a back-and-forth clash that produced great exchanges between the two fighters.

Kroll utilized his hand speed to outbox Bunch during the first two rounds of the fight. Kroll was effective in switching back and forth from conventional to southpaw, outlanding Bunch during many exchanges.

Bunch (2-1, 2 KOs) did find some success during the middle rounds, but began to show some signs of fatigue by round five. Kroll took advantage of that, stunning Bunch with a right hand later in the round. Both fighters had their moments in round six, but Kroll landed the more-telling blows.

Scores were 58-56, 58-56, and 59-55 for Kroll.

Heavyweight prospect Sonny Conto, who resides in Philadelphia, battered Mexico’s Guillermo Del Rio (2-3-1, 2 KOs) through four rounds, dropping Del Rio in the final round before settling for a unanimous decision victory.

Conto dominated the action, stunning Del Rios on several occasions throughout the fight. With about 30 seconds left in the final round, Conto dropped Del Rio with a left hook to the head. To his credit, Del Rio beat the count and fought back until the final bell sounded.

All three judges scored the bout 40-35 in favor of Conto, who improves to 4-0, 3 KOs.

Featherweight prospect Donald Smith of Philadelphia dropped Abdur-Raheem Abdullah once en route to a unanimous decision.

Smith, who towered over Abduallh, scored a knockdown with the first punch he threw in the fight about 20 seconds into the first round. Abdullah pressed the action throughout much of the fight, but Smith effectively countered with hooks and crosses to the head and body.

Abdullah (3-3) was deducted a point from referee Gary Rosato in round four for landing a low blow. While Smith doubled over in pain and pointed to his groin, replays showed Abdullah landed a left hook to the hip of Smith, although it was not clear whether Abdullah did land a right to Smith’s groin.

Scores were 59-53, 59-53, and 60-52 for Smith, who improves to 10-0, 6 KOS.

In junior featherweight action, Jeremy Adorno (2-0, 1 KO), the younger brother of Joseph Adorno, knocked out Fernando Robles (2-2) at 2:01 of the third round.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing