Edgar Berlanga Remains Undefeated Against Steve Rolls
In his latest tour of duty, super middleweight boxer Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga (19-0, 16 KO’s) secured his latest victory. The young hard-hitting sensation pulled his off by defeating Steve “Mister” Rolls (21-2, 12 KO’s) by way of unanimous decision. It was good to nab a win over a veteran and a passable way to bounce back from his rather shaky performance with Marcelo Coceres.
Five months ago, the Chosen One, 24, had a rather tough time with the Argentine boxer and even tasted the canvas for the first time. To his credit though, Berlanga did suffer a torn bicep in that match and gritted through to earn the UD. Since then the Brooklynite has undergone surgery to repair the damage. Ranked #9 (WBO) and #13 (WBA), it will be interesting to see what opponent Berlanga selects next. Sadly for him though, Berlanga displayed remarkably little improvement in any area during this contest.
The loss effectively snapped a two-fight win streak that Rolls was riding. That last defeat came on June 8, 2019 at the hands of Gennady Golovkin.
ROUGH OPENING ROAD
Despite being the favorite to win, Berlanga staged a pretty flat opening round. For the better part of it, the Chosen One simply lumbered behind Rolls looking for a big shot. Conversely, Mister used his feet to dictate the action and scored regularly with his jab. Things got a bit more complicated in the second when Berlanga suffered a cut on his left eye. The laceration was caused by an accidental headbutt.
It should be noted that despite his early success, Rolls maintained a very squirrely energy and was clearly not interested in taking a hard, flush shot. During the fourth, there was a shift in dynamics. Now the Chosen One’s pursuit felt more like stalking rather than simply following. He was still not doing it with much craft or intelligence, however. For example, his low lead left hand supplied Rolls the opportunity to pop Berlanga in the mouth with clean straight punches throughout the entire affair. Had Rolls been a more powerful puncher, the Chosen One would have had serious problems.
BETTER THAN AN “L”
Rolls came out like a new fighter in the seventh and spent the first 60 seconds strafing Berlanga’s nose and chin with swift, sharp punches. To his credit, the undefeated boxer ate them well but it was a bad look. Mister’s aggression bled into the eighth round as well. Roughly about the halfway point of the ninth, Berlanga clipped Rolls with a right uppercut that changed the feel of the round back in his favor.
Rolls gave a good account of himself in the tenth and final round but fatigue prevented him from looking his best. As they both tried to close the show, Berlanga’s heavier shots were hard to overlook. When all was said and done, and the cards were read, Edgar Berlanga won a unanimous decision to the tune of 96-94, 97-93 twice.
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By: Bakari Simpson
