Berlanga bites Angulo in decision victory on eve of New York's Puerto Rican Day parade
Munguia struggles before knocking out Kelly; former heavyweight titlist Parker signs with Boxxer
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Super middleweight Edgar Berlanga did not score the resounding knockout he said he would nor did he put on the kind of memorable performance he insisted would increase his star power. But he boxed well from a distance and landed enough solid shots to outpoint veteran two-time world title challenger Roamer Alexis Angulo on Saturday night in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Berlanga won by surprisingly wide scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92 in a fight that appeared much closer, but his victory was marred because he could have — perhaps should have — been disqualified for biting Angulo on the left shoulder during a clinch in the seventh round.
Referee Ricky Gonzalez was on the other side and did not see Berlanga’s shocking action, which he for some reason joked about after the fight.
“He was throwing elbows. I was about to do a Mike Tyson on him,” Berlanga said with a laugh, referencing when the former heavyweight champion infamously bit a chunk out of Evander Holyfield’s ear during their 1997 world title rematch and was disqualified. “He kept throwing his elbows, and I didn’t want to get cut. I was ready to bite him like Mike Tyson.”
Angulo was not amused by being turned into a snack.
“At the end of the day, he tried to take a chunk out of my ear (shoulder, per video replays) and that wasn’t it,” Angulo said through an interpreter. “He was trying to hit me low, hitting me on the thigh, and it took something out of me where I didn’t even want to get close to him in the end because he’s the local fighter and you know that when you’re fighting in your opponent’s hometown then certain infractions all of a sudden are not infractions, so I just knew what I was up against.”
Biting aside, Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs), a 25-year-old Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, New York, notched a victory against the most notable opponent of his career in front of a partisan crowd of 4,347 on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York, a date he dreamed of headlining on since he was a kid.
As a 9-year-old in 2007, Berlanga remembers how in awe he was when he attended then-welterweight titleholder Miguel Cotto’s defense against Zab Judah in Madison Square Garden’s main arena on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade.
Berlanga idolized Puerto Rican legend Cotto and attending that exciting fight, which Cotto won by 11th-round knockout, was a big deal.
“It was tremendous,” Berlanga said. “From there I just believed. When I turned pro my father (Edgar Sr.) told me we could be headlining one day on the Puerto Rican Day weekend and that’s what happened tonight.”
With Cotto ringside the night before he will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, Berlanga landed many uppercuts and right hands while also using his jab very effectively.
It was a more disciplined performance — biting aside — than Berlanga has shown previously, perhaps because he was in his first fight with trainer Juan De Leon after parting ways with Andre Rozier.
But Angulo (27-3, 23 KOs), 38, of Colombia, got his licks in also. He bloodied Berlanga’s nose in the fourth round and damaged him around the right eye, which was bleeding, purple and swelling later in the fight. Berlanga was also bleeding from the mouth, but he landed more than enough shots to claim victory.
According to CompuBox statistics, Berlanga landed 108 of 423 punches (26 percent), including 50 jab connects, and Angulo landed 79 of 354 shots (22 percent), including just 12 jabs.
“Mentally, I felt good,” Berlanga said. “I felt happy the whole training camp. I moved the training camp to Puerto Rico, and I can’t be more grateful to be on my island training. I did a full camp for this fight, and you see the difference tonight.
“I just got the experience I needed. My power is still there. I hurt him a couple of times. I didn’t want to fall for any traps or anything. I knew that he was a tough guy.”
Angulo’s two previous losses came in super middleweight world title fights to then-titlist Gilberto Ramirez by decision in 2018 and by 10th-round knockout to David Benavidez for a vacant belt in 2020.
“It was fun. I had to stick to the game plan. Angulo is a tough, tough veteran,” Berlanga said. “He fought for the title two times. He went the distance with Ramirez and he got stopped by Benavidez and these are good champions, so I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy contest.”
Berlanga began his career with 16 consecutive first-round knockout wins but was forced to go the distance for the fourth time in a row. He said he was not disappointed he did not get a KO, even though he had predicted one.
“We said if we land clean shots and he goes, he goes, but if we got to box for 10 rounds that’s exactly what I did and I wanted to do that,” Berlanga said.
Angulo said he felt he won the fight.
“I think we both had a solid performance,” said Angulo, whose two previous losses came in super middleweight world title fights to then-titlist Gilberto Ramirez by decision in 2018 and by 10th-round knockout to David Benavidez for a vacant belt in 2020. “He’s a young fighter, he’s a strong fighter, but nonetheless I think we both did well. I think I did better than him.”
Munguia knocks out Kelly
For four rounds, Jaime Munguia looked lost against massive underdog Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly on Saturday night in the main event of the Golden Boy card on DAZN at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The much smaller Kelly boxed and moved, jabbed and displayed tight defense. He was a bit quicker also and even forced Munguia back when he landed a clean left hook in the second round.
However, Munguia continued to press forward, as usual, and finally got to Kelly, flooring him three times in the fifth round for a knockout victory in their super middleweight bout contracted at 165 pounds, three less than the division limit.
Munguia, a former junior middleweight titlist, whose previous five bouts were at middleweight, missed a lot of shots in the first three rounds before finding his target and taking out Kelly in the fifth. He dropped him for the first time with a left hook to the chin that sent him to his backside midway through the round. Moments later, Munguia connected with a right uppercut that dropped him to his rear end in the center of the ring.
Munguia (40-0, 32 KOs), 25, of Mexico, was all over him in the follow-up attack and blistered him with several shots, finally driving him to the mat in a corner. Kelly (26-3, 10 KOs), 29, of England, was up at nine, but referee Thomas Taylor elected to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 57 seconds.
“My strategy was to move and try to frustrate him,” Kelly said. “He’s a strong, patient fighter. But he just stayed calm and found the opportunity. It was my daughter's birthday and I missed it which broke my heart. I thought I would win but now I have to go back and explain why I lost.”
Munguia admitted he was troubled by Kelly prior to the knockout.
“It was difficult in the beginning since he’s a slippery, tough fighter, and he could take a punch,” Munguia said through an interpreter. “He was trying to do his plan of attack, but I had to do my thing and work the body. My mentality was that I was losing the first three rounds. So, I had to follow my plan of slowing him down by attacking the body. I figured out that I had to work through the middle and throw punches like the uppercut.”
It was yet another victory for Munguia against a lesser opponent in Kelly, whose claim to fame was that he scored an upset split decision over then-unbeaten Kanat Islam in a middleweight bout in February. In 2015, Liam Smith knocked Kelly out in the seventh round of a junior middleweight title defense.
Munguia said he hopes to fight for a middleweight world title next or perhaps stay at super middleweight.
“I’m ready for any challenge,” he said. “There are a lot of people who are supporting me. I want to say what (Golden Boy promoter) Oscar (De La Hoya said during fight week) for (WBC middleweight titlist Jermall) Charlo to grow some balls and stop hiding behind (adviser Al) Haymon. I think it would be great for boxing. We hope that by the end of the year we can get a big fight.”
Parker signs with Boxxer
Former WBO heavyweight titlist Joseph Parker has signed an “exclusive long-term promotional agreement” with British promoter Boxxer and Sky Sports, its broadcaster, they announced on Saturday.
Parker (30-2, 21 KOs), 30, held the title from 2016 until 2018 and made two successful defenses before losing it by decision to Anthony Joshua in a unification fight. Parker then lost his next fight by decision to Dillian Whyte later in 2018 but has won six fights in a row since, including his last two against Dereck Chisora.
But after eight fights in a row with Matchroom Boxing, Parker is moving on to Boxxer.
“This is a massive signing for Boxxer. Joe Parker is one of the best heavyweights in world boxing and we are delighted to welcome him to the team,” Boxxer CEO Ben Shalom said. “Every ranking body has him high in their list and now he’s entering his prime. We look forward to taking him back to world title opportunities and some huge events here in the U.K.”
Parker is from New Zealand but has had five of his last nine fights in the U.K.
“In signing with Ben Shalom and Boxxer I’m excited for the next phase of my career, where I will become a two-time world champion on Sky Sports, the best TV platform in sports,” Parker said. “I’ve had a great relationship with Sky Sports in the past, with many great fight nights against the leading British heavyweights. I’ll fight absolutely anyone put in front of me.”
Berlanga-Angulo photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Munguia-Kelly photo: Tom Hogan/Golden Boy
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Never got in that Berlanga hype train, and got another example why last night. Dude is NOT the “Chosen One” and continues to be exposed by third-tier opposition. On top of that he’s a bully, and he looked lost in there and resorted to biting. What an ass.
And those scorecards… I could see 96-94 either way, but that shit was pre-printed.
Mungia is also plummeting in credibility, as he routinely has opportunities to enforce a mandatory to fight for a title, passes on it, then acts like he’s the one being avoided so that he can fight scraps for big purses.
It’s been a very solid year for boxing so far, but we got the worst of it last night.
With Parker joining Boxxer it looks like hes ducked fighting Joe Joyce. Considering the amount of good heavyweights Warren has Fury, Joyce and Dubois to name a few and with Joshua with the DAZN its hard to see a decent match up for Parker for a while.