A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
Edgar Berlanga appears to be a victim of his own success.
When you knock out each of your first 16 opponents in the first round, people expect great things from you. And the 24-year-old from Brooklyn hasn’t been great in his last few fights, which has changed the way he’s perceived.
Berlanga’s latest so-so performance came Saturday, when he defeated veteran Steve Rolls by a unanimous decision in New York City.
The judges obviously thought Berlanga (19-0, 16 KOs) did enough to earn the decision but he didn’t do much of anything. He stalked his elusive opponent but threw and landed few punches, although he fought with more urgency in the last few rounds.
He seemed to blame Rolls (21-2, 12 KOs) afterward, saying he had to chase the reluctant 37-year-old Canadian the entire fight. Well, if that’s true, it’s his job to cut off the ring and he failed to do that.
And Rolls did a pretty good job for a frightened opponent, making almost every round competitive by sticking and moving. It was a solid game plan and he employed it effectively, at least enough to frustrate Berlanga much of the fight.
So what went wrong for Berlanga?
One problem: 16 consecutive first-round knockouts to start his career means he gained less than 16 full rounds of experience in those fights. That’s nothing. He had an extensive amateur career but he remains raw as a professional.
Another possible problem: Berlanga just isn’t as good as we thought he was. He looked terrific during his knockout streak, ordinary against Marcelo Coceres and Rolls.
One more possible problem: He reportedly works with several trainers, which might be overkill. He might be trying to process too information, which is difficult for a young fighter. Perhaps he needs to settle on one trainer and see how things go.
The good news for Berlanga – and the reason he’s categorized as GOOD here – is that he’s young, he has good backing and, yes, he has some talent.
He could still realize the destiny he sees for himself if he acknowledges that he has a lot of room to grow and takes the proper steps to do so.
BAD
I scored Berlanga-Rolls 96-94 – six rounds to four – for Rolls, who I thought outworked Berlanga much of the fight.
Was he robbed? No. I thought it was a close fight that could’ve gone either way. I also believe that Berlanga had the advantage of being the “house” fighter, the fighter expected to win, which might account for the two 97-93 scores in his favor.
In my opinion, Rolls at least came close to pulling off what would’ve been the biggest victory of his career, one that would’ve moved him a giant step closer to his dream of fighting for a world championship.
Now, who knows whether that will ever happen for him? He turns 38 next month, which might mean the fight against Berlanga was his last on a big stage.
I fear that Rolls will be remembered exclusively for his failed attempt to take down future Hall of Famer Gennadiy Golovkin, who stopped him in brutal fashion in the fourth round in June 2019.
I hope that those who saw the fight on Saturday night don’t forget that he gave a solid performance against a highly regarded opponent even if he was overly concerned about Berlanga’s power. He proved in that fight that he’s a good fighter.
WORSE
Boxing’s territorial nature has destroyed another great potential fight.
Middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo and contender Jaime Munguia – both highly regarded, undefeated fighters – were near an agreement to fight in June. And then the talks fell apart, which leaves us with Charlo vs. Maciej Sulecki instead.
I won’t even try to unpack the reasons in detail other than to say that it came down to the networks. DAZN (Munguia) wanted to be part of a joint pay-per-view and Showtime wouldn’t agree to that, instead offering to give DAZN the rematch.
Just like that, a wonder matchup was dead, at least for now.
There’s nothing wrong with Charlo’s fight with Sulecki, a solid contender from Poland who has a victory over Gabriel Rosado. I look forward to the fight.
The problem is that a matchup between Charlo and Munguia – who have a combined record of 71-0, with 53 knockouts – is one of the better possible fights in the sport. Charlo is one of the best in the business and Munguia is moving steadily in that direction.
That’s why I know I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed to learn that Charlo had gone from the possibility of fighting Canelo Alvarez to probably fighting Munguia to actually fighting Sulecki.
I understand that the networks and their partners have to look out for their own interests. That’s business. I also understand the fans’ frustration.
