Brooklyn boxer Edgar Berlanga entered the ring at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening looking to get back into the win column after suffering a crushing fifth-round knockout loss to British boxer Hamzah Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KOs) last July at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. But after the super middleweight won the first round and was seemingly in control in round two, his opponent, Canada’s Steven Butler dropped the Puerto Rican pugilist at the end of the frame.
With Berlanga on the canvas, the immediate thought racing through the minds of many of his supporters was: would Berlanga suffer his second-straight knockout loss?
The 29-year-old Berlanga (24-2, 19 KOs) emphatically answered the question, overcoming the early adversity to defeat Butler (38-6-1, 32 KOs) by seventh-round technical knockout (TKO) in Zuffa Boxing’s first-ever promotional card in New York City.
“I feel like every time I kept hurting him, he was getting more energy,” Berlanga said of his opponent. “He had more energy. He was more aware. He was more alert, but we stuck with the game plan. I knew that when I stood composed and used my jab, the knockout was gonna come eventually.”
Berlanga mentioned several fighters as potential opponents when he steps into the ring again, including WBA super middleweight champion Jaime Munguía.
“That’s a big fight,” Berlanga said in the post-fight press conference. “Mexico versus Puerto Rico is going to be a big night. He’s young — he’s explosive, too.”
In the co-main event, Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins (21-0, 8 KOs) won every round on all three scorecards in a masterfully dominant victory over Mexican Ricardo Salas (24-2-2, 18 KOs) in his first fight in the welterweight division.
“That’s what you call beautiful boxing,” Hitchins said after his win. “The guy was tough. It was a fight that fans said I didn’t want to take, against a pressure-fighting Mexican, so I showed what I can do. I boxed. I stood on the inside, and I did what I had to do, so onto the next.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) returns to New York tomorrow with an 11-fight card at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. In the main event, PFL Lightweight champion, the undefeated champion Usman Nurmagomedov (21-0) will attempt to defend his title against undefeated Archie Colgan (13-0). In the co-main event, Dakota Ditcheva will battle Denise Kielholtz (9-5). Last weekend in Washington, DC, Thad Jean (12-0) won the PFL Welterweight title with a third-round TKO win over Ernesto Rodriguez (11-2).
Former unified world champion Errol Spence Jr. returned to the ring after suffering the first loss of his career in a brutal beating by Terence Crawford nearly three years to the date. He did not look good and suffered the second loss of his career to Tim Tszyu (28-3, 18 KOs) in Australia. The future Hall of Famer announced his retirement after the fight, ending his career with a record of 28-2 with 22 knockouts.
“I answered a lot of questions for myself, and now it’s time to go home with my family and start a new life,” Spence said after the loss. “I’ve got my faculties intact, and my money is working for itself. I’m thankful to leave this sport with my family by my side.” In a sport where money and lucrative deals lure fighters back into the ring, hopefully, Spence remains retired.
