Edgar Berlanga’s return to the ring was a success after defeating Steven Butler by 7th-round TKO at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden in his hometown of New York City in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 09 on Sunday night.
While Berlanga(24-2, 19 KOs), who is coming off a knockout loss to Hamzah Sheeraz last summer, got the victory, it wasn’t easy. For the fourth time in his last four fights, Berlanga hit the canvas. He was dropped near the end of Round 2 by a big left hand from Butler.
“It was a good shot,” Berlanga said about the knockdown. “It was a good hook. I mean, I’m a warrior, man. Shook it off and got right back to it.”
That knockdown appeared to wake up the Brooklyn native.
Berlanga came back strong in Round 3. He had Butler(38-6-1, 32 KOs) hurt badly in the round, but Butler was able to stay on his feet and make it out of the round.
In the 6th round, Berlanga finally got Butler to the canvas, and in the 7th round, Berlanga applied pressure, and the referee stopped the fight.
The 29-year-old Berlanga is back, and we should get used to these types of fights with him. He has the power to get knockouts, but he also has a chin that makes him vulnerable.
To his credit, he was boxing well against Butler. He used his jab effectively, which was a weapon in this fight.
What Next?
Berlanga called out Caleb Plant, Jaime Munguia, Jermall Charlo, Chris Eubank Jr., and a rematch with Sheeraz. All those fights would be interesting. In fact, any fight Berlanga takes would be exciting, but hopefully he can get one of the guys he mentioned next.
At this stage, it is hard to say if Berlanga can become a world champion. He does have concussive power, but there also appear to be some holes in his game, and if he wants to get a belt, he’ll have to fix those holes.
Photo: Zuffa Boxing
Leave a Reply