Random thoughts: Berlanga going distance good even if 1st-round KO streak ended
How about some random boxing thoughts?
I saw some Twitter jerks bashing super middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga because he didn’t score another first-round knockout, or even a KO at all, instead going the eight-round distance with Demond Nicholson in a dominating victory on Saturday night’s Top Rank card.
Imagine being so small that you’re critical because a guy didn’t score a 17th first-round knockout in a row? Going the full eight rounds was actually the best thing that could have happened to Berlanga.
Not only is the increasing pressure of “the streak” now gone for good, Berlanga, like any young fighter, needs rounds so he and his team know if he can do it and so the fighter can get the extremely valuable experience that goes with them.
Berlanga’s team at Top Rank, his father Edgar Berlanga Sr., manager Keith Connolly and trainer Andre Rozier were all thrilled he finally got some rounds.
Berlanga (17-0, 16 KOs) now has about the same amount of pro minutes logged in that one win as he did in all of his previous fights combined. He’s 23. He’s a baby in the sport. He showed he could do eight rounds with no problem. He got tagged a few times and took the shots with no issues. He showed maturity and poise by staying calm when he didn’t get a quick knockout. And he still won in highly entertaining fashion by scoring four knockdowns.
His return won’t come June 12 as Top Rank was initially planning, but instead will be deeper into the summer, but I know this: Whenever Berlanga is back in action I will be excited to see it.
Not only was Berlanga-Nicholson entertaining but Emanuel Navarrete’s featherweight title defense against Christopher Diaz in the main event was absolutely enthralling. It was a terrific and dramatic fight. Navarrete’s going to be a problem for anyone at featherweight. And even though Diaz didn’t win, he showed incredible heart and courage. He’s an easy guy to cheer for. I covered the card for The Ring magazine website and watched every second of the entire card and from top to bottom I enjoyed every single fight. It was the best overall Top Rank card I have seen in a long time.
One prospect on the Navarrete-Diaz undercard particularly stood out to me: 18-year-old welterweight Xander Zayas, who looked great in a first-round knockout of Demarcus Layton. Zayas is well conditioned, put his punches together well and showed poise and power.
Like so many, I wish Ryan Garcia nothing but the best as he deals with his mental health issues, which were the reason he withdrew from a July 9 interim lightweight title defense against Javier Fortuna on Saturday. We’re all going through something and I applaud Garcia for not hiding it and dealing with it.
I do feel bad for Fortuna, who has had no luck lately. In the past 18 months or so he has either been ordered to fight or had a fight set against Garcia, Devin Haney, Jorge Linares and Luke Campbell. None of them happened. That’s terrible luck.
As long as Garcia-Fortuna is off, here’s hoping Golden Boy and DAZN give the date to Vergil Ortiz.
The Jose Ramirez-Josh Taylor undisputed junior welterweight championship fight is May 22. I cannot wait. It’s as must-see a fight as there is.
As long as it is taking to get the Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua fight done, it’s also annoying how long it’s taking to get the Joe Joyce-Oleksandr Usyk fight signed.
Glad to see Deontay Wilder is back in training. I look forward to his return.
Also glad to see Daniel Dubois returning from his November KO loss to Joyce. Dubois is back June 5 against Bogdan Dinu, who is the perfect opponent for the comeback. However, the fact that this bout is being sanctioned for the wretched WBA’s vacant interim heavyweight title is farcical and grotesque.
Former heavyweight titlist Andy Ruiz looks like he has actually trained for his fight against Chris Arreola that headlines the PBC Fox PPV card on Saturday. I think it will be a pretty good fight.
Derek Chisora and Joseph Parker also meet in a notable heavyweight fight on Saturday (DAZN). I am interested to watch it and also interested to see how Parker looks in his first fight with new trainer Andy Lee.
So, the prospect of a Manny Pacquiao-Terence Crawford fight this summer in the United Arab Emirates is dead? I am shocked. Just shocked.
Paging GGG.
When Showtime unveiled its May-September schedule and the junior featherweight title bout between Luis Nery and Brandon Figueroa was set to kick it off May 15 in Carson, California, my first thought was we might see a replay of Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez. Three of their four fights between 2007 and 2010 were legendary. Same division. Same WBC belt at stake. Same action styles. And same site as Vasquez-Marquez I and III.
Let’s see Jaron Ennis right back in action as soon as possible.
Vasiliy Lomachenko taking on Masayoshi Nakatani in his June return from the lightweight title loss to Teofimo Lopez is fine by me. The fight will be the 17th of Loma’s pro career and only the second that is not a world title fight. The other? His pro debut.
Jamel Herring wants to fight Oscar Valdez. Yes, please.
Berlanga photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
My not so random thought:
Who the hell needs ESPN's boxing page when you get Dan Rafael's insight, boxing schedule info, and his articles from multiple different sites and publications straight to your inbox? The answer? No one.
Thanks for doing what you do, Dan. In our household you're the Abbott of all things boxing!
First. FFU is awesome. Great job.
Regarding Navarrete, I’d love to see him against Gary Russell Jr ....styles make fights !
Keep up the good work ❤️🥊