Unbeaten super middleweight Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) outpointed two-time title challenger Alexis Angulo (27-3, 23 KOs) over ten rounds on Saturday night before 4,357 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Berlanga, who opened his career with 16 straight first round KOs, now has four straight decision wins. Probably the highlight was Berlanga getting away with trying to bite the 38-year-old Angulo in round seven. Scores were 98-92, 99-91, 99-91.
Regarding “the bite” in round seven, Berlanda stated, “He was throwing elbows. I was about to do a Mike Tyson on him. He kept throwing his elbows, and I didn’t want to get cut.”
“Mentally, I felt good,” added Berlanga. “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. It was fun. I had to stick to the gameplan. Angulo is a tough veteran. He fought for the title two times. He fought {David} Benavidez. He fought {Gilberto} Ramirez. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy contest.”
“I just go 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. He’s a tough guy.”
Oh boy Berlanga gets exposed a little more each time out.
Berlanga lost this fight. He needs to step down in competition and work on fundamentals
I disagree on him losing. The scores were extreme, but there weren’t many rounds that you can clearly say Angulo deserved. Like most, I do favor the aggressor, but you still actually have to land shots. I thought Haney’s performance was boring last week, but Kambosis just didn’t land anything. Angulo did have moments at least, but rarely did they last. Sadly, he looked every bit of his age and Berlanga looked very overrated and lacking of class.
He’s still young, but Edgar will have a lot to prove moving forward after the attempted bite and then the post fight bravado. While I felt he deserved the Decision, I quietly hoped he’d lose. That’s a huge fall for a guy I hoped could become star.
Berlanga fought like a girl. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano would destroy him. Wouldn’t be surprised if Berlanga comes out of the closet. No heart and no guts. His name shouldn’t be The Chosen one it should be The Chosen girl lol
Fought like a coward.
Totally agree. How are you supposed to be adware’s fighter when the entire fight you’re being backed up
Wish I could give you 2 thumbs up Arturo.
Nice one Arturo, you are everything that’s wrong with social media. Keyboard warrior calling a professional boxer a coward.
Go read a book.
He didn’t call him a coward, he said “he fought like a coward”. Reading and comprehension, it’s s bitch.
Hmmm, can’t type, either!
The Chosen GIrl?…hahaha, good one! Is your 6 year old posting under your name again?
boxing is a joke all berlanga has going is all the money on his side this was as bad as it gets. the guy is nothing but a chump.
Angulo needed to be busier in that fight. He fought like a 38 year old puncher who’d been out a year.
But Berlanga got filthy and pulled out the bite, so technically Angulo should’ve won on a disqualification. WTF!
I did not like those scores. I had it 96-95 Berlanga as I scored 1 round even. If Angulo cold have picked it up just a little he would have won. But imo those scores were way too lopsided. That said there were a lot of close rounds and Berlanga threw a lot of jabs. I think Berlanga should fight Morrell or Munguia next…why? Because anyone that is between that level and Angulo will beat him.
I think they both beat Berlanga, Pete. I think he may be looking for a Caleb Truax type. I thought the scores were too wide as well, but Angulo needed to punch more in many of the rounds.
Yes…he might get by Truax. I would like Truax and Morrell to fight in Minnesota.
I’m actually surprised they haven’t fought already. I just Googled ‘Truax Morrell’ and one of the results, coincidentally, is a YT video dated today of an interview of Truax talking about how much he likes Anthony Sims and how he thinks he would beat Berlanga and that Morrell wouldn’t fight him (Sims).
Strange…you would think he would want that fight for himself for one last cash out. That said…maybe that fight for him (Truaux) was with Plante. Morrell even with 7 fights to me is way too much for Truaux. But I love a good local fight so for that reason I would like to see it happen. Better to do it now before Morrell either proves himself to be too good or doesn’t. The element of mystery can sell it at this point.
I agree with you totally. Angulo needed to
work behind his jab and his pace was to
slow. More pressue and Berlanga would
have folded. Forget about the scores,
Berlanga is the house fighter and if you
don’t totally dominate him or knock him
out you will probably lose by a decision.
Benavides will knock him out early and
Morrell will knock him out late, between
8 and 10 round. Berlanga is nothing
special. He reminds me of Erickson
Lubin. Early promise, the hype train
and then derailment.
Good points George. It does look like Berlanga is a hype train. I know he is young and can improve but he does not look like he will carry the torch in place of Cotto and Trinidad. That said I think when you have a hype machine like this you need to capitalize why you can. I think a match between Berlanga and Munguia is exciting. Great for the Mexico vs Puerto Rico rivalry! I think it sells and I also think it ill be an entertaining fight. Munguia also has some question marks so why not put them in there and get some answers. My pick is that Munguia is tougher mentally and will break Berlanga down. But I say better to lose to Munguia then the next Angulo level fighter that picks it up just a shade more.
Those first 16 guys had to have been told to lie down for him in the 1st round
What a boring piece of crap, Berlanga should stop mentioning Trinidad and Cotto, it’s played out and he doesn’t have any real boxing skills. Xander Zayas should of represented Puerto Rico tonight not boring Berlanga.
To piggy back off this comment: Cotton or Trinidad never tried to bite anyone either like Edgar did.
haha, matchmaking 101. He is a c- fighter. I mean biter. He did that poorly too.
ABSOLUTE ROBBERY!!!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! All three judges gave Angulo 2 rounds or less!!!!! Angulo worked this BUM for the entire fight!!! Berlanga fought like the coward he is UNTIL the bell rang at the end of the 12th. THEN he wanted to get “tough”. He also tried to bite Angulo in the clinch. First o the shoulder, then the neck, then the ear, then the cheek. After the fight he showed his true colors. This kid is GARBAGE!!! Was a fan until tonight. Especially after hearing his post fight interview. This kid is a joke!!
I think we can without the typical dirty Puerto Rican comment.
It was a 10 round fight
Berserker can’t count either.
Puerto Ricans are in for heartbreak if they pin their boxing hopes on this Berlanga character. ESPN and the myopic judges think he’s a future Cotto and Trinidad if not already there. I’m not even sure he beat Angulo. The guy doesn’t have “it”.
I would say Berlanga brought shame upon Puerto Ricans on the eve of their big parade with his Tyson bite antics, but that would imply they are capable of being ashamed.
Being Puerto Rican I was disgusted with his antics. We do not put our hopes in him, need to work on his fundamentals, he doesn’t throw to the body no head movement, easy to read, he is powerful but without skills. Zayas is a star
I’m going to have to rewatch the Kyoguchu Bermudez and Inoue Donaire fights before bed to get the taste of this shit sandwich out of my mouth
Pretty unimpressive performance by Berlanga. He had all the advantages in this fight, including a very biased ESPN broadcasting team. Berlanga was clearly landing the faster, harder, crisper, accurate punches, but Angulo landed several hard, clean shots throughout the fight which the announcers didn’t acknowledge. Its like they were instructed to do everything in their power to pump up Berlanga and make Angulo look bad. The scoring was accurate, in fact you can argue Berlanga pitched a shutout, but he did himself no favors by trying to bite Angulo and the post fight activities right after final bell. A decent win against a decent fighter, but Berlanga is proving to not be the superstar he was hyped up to be
I didn’t watch the whole thing, but seeing a supposed puncher backing up the whole time didn’t give an impression he won t big on the cards. This guy won’t last three rounds with Benevidez or Canelo. He is a novelty
Gets KO’d by both very likely. Likely by many others too.
Berlanga’s awful. What a waste of time. He was an interesting circus sideshow attraction when he was getting the KOs against bums, but now that he’s stepping up against fighters people have actually heard of, his utter lack of skills is obvious. I really hope ESPN doesn’t make him the main event of any other cards.
I think he has the wrong trainer. Looked like they trained to pull a Devin Haney tonight. That’s not Berlanga’s thing — neither his skill set nor (and therefore) what anyone will come to see him for.
That scoring was ridiculous, Berlanga lost that fight IMHO.
Well, in front of a mostly Puerto Rican (PR)/PR-American crowd, Berlanga did not display an exciting victory near the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade…but a win is a win. It was probably the most quiet PR/PR-American based boxing crowd, near the PR Day Parade.
There were a few good things about Berlanga and a few bad things. Berlanga displayed a nice jab while showing a solid chin; but Angulo never learned how to turn over, torque and/or snap off his power shots (like other fighters will). Berlanga also displayed decent movement.
Unfortunately, during moments of frustration in front of PR/PR American folks, Berlanga was involved in shameful incidents of biting/low blows (during fight) and a head butt (end of fight) – I hope Berlanga and his camp correct this matter because he will encounter more frustrating fights at 168.
In addition, due to Angulo’s size, Berlanga also received a taste of 175, so I believe Berlanga better make sure he finds a way to stay at 168. If Berlanga is forced (weight) to 175, he will get extremely exposed in defeat.
Even at 168, Berlanga should stay away from Benavidez, Canelo, Morrell and a several other top fighters. I sense negative exposure is developing on Berlanga.
The hype is over. Berlanga looked ordinary against a plodding but strong fighter. He often let Angulo miss but didn’t make him pay. Angulo was never staggered at any point in the fight while Berlanga looked tired in the second half of the fight. He looked fine when he boxed, but was vulnerable when he elected to slug.
I don’t see a lot of upside for Berlanga in the 168 lb division. There are too many good fighters who can beat him at this point. The fighter to watch is David Morrell. He’s got the goods but is relatively unknown to the casual fan.
Berlanga does not look like he will end up doing anything at the higher levels of the sport. I don’t think the KOs will come against more skilled fighters, let alone the elite. If anything, he’ll get KOd or even worse lose boring points decisions.
In Berlangas defense, if he didn’t come in with such high expections based on his KO streak, nobody would be critisizing his performance tonight. He just easily beat a fighter who’s only two losses were World title shots against Benavides by 10th round stoppage and Zurdo Ramirez by decision. That says something. I’m always a little sceptical of Colombian fighters as so many come in with glossy records but limited skills, kinda like fighters from the Midwest or Southern states, but Angulo could box. He fought every bit like a 38 year old but he gave Berlanga some problems. The way I see it, at this point, Berlanga is an unspectacular top 10 contender.
Is the fight over yet? Please tell me it is so I can wake up.
Plain and simple, Berlanga is garbage when it comes to boxing. And what is with guy and the bad man attitude, he sure as hell doesn’t fight like one. I swear I was thinking the same thing right when Bradley said that Angulo was manhandling Berlanga.
More hometown cooking from corrupt judges! I had the fight even, and that’s being generous.
Boxing for sure, is headed the wrong direction
I can not believe people think Angulo won that fight. Was Berlanga dominant? -Hell No! Was he even further exposed?-Hell Yes! But you can not possibly say he won the fight. I found myself pulling for Angulo until the very end, hoping for a KO in the later rounds because I knew he was too far behind on the scorecards. In reality, even if Angulo did legitmately outbox and out point Berlanga (which he didn’t) it would have been next to impossible for him to get a decision. Are you kidding? He’s an ESPN house fighter fighting in his home town of NYC on the night before the Puerto Rican day parade! Good luck!
Berlanga’s a dog. Got no respect for dirty fighters.
Morrell in 2!
Not impressed, what is he a vampire past midnight??
ALL HYPE……I can’t come up with a single top level fighter he’d beat?! No one!!!
i tuned it off after the 8th round already knew the outcome just was not worth watching berlanga has to fight top level competition
Berlanga is a scrub! His fight suck and he is no Cotto, or Trinidad. Hell he not even Juanma!
The “Brooklyn Brooklyn Biter” Vergalonga is nothing but a punk! What’s with the comments that he “tried” to bite Angulo? Tried my ass, he bite him! He lost a fan in me and hopefully others that believe that fighters like Nonito Donaire should be emulated. I look forward to seeing BBB stretched out on the canvas!
I meant the “Brooklyn Boriqua Biter”! I stuttered!
You better stay in the back,you ain’t ready, I had it closer,Berlanga you are the frozen one not chosen
Ok, now that is funny
Berlanga may win a “Title” someday, but only because they’re a dime a dozen. He’s very overrated in every way. He looked slow against a 38 year old man who forgot how to cut off the ring and his power is definitely not elite.
It’s not his fault that he was matched so weakly coming up, but I’d lose that nickname. He’s definitely not “The Chosen One”! Imagine being Puerto Rican and buying into this power puncher who did his best Devin Haney impression and then saw him go bitch by trying to bite a fighter as washed up as Angulo. It’ll be interesting to see if he can sell tickets moving forward.
Berlanga is learning his craft. He enjoyed a fast start with a string of one round KOs against overmatched opposition, but now is facing tougher caliber of fighters who can stand up to his power and fire back. This is what he needs and he seems to have it in perspective. Kudos to Angulo for his effort in lasting the distance.
I scored the fight a draw. Berlanga was not impressive, he moved around, but really seemed reluctant to commit to his jabs and power shots. Many of his shots landed on Angulo’s gloves. He looked like a very unfocused, uncomfortable fighter, continually looking at the clock, mouth open, adjusting his trunks, complaining to the ref, biting his opponent.
Angulo was the aggressor all night long and he landed some nice shots from time to time, and was virtually given no credit by ESPN’s terrible announce team. If Angulo had done just a little more, I think he would have won the fight. Without question he needed a knockout or a number knockdowns to get a fair shake considering the odds being so stacked against him. The official scorecards were a joke.
Edgar “Iron Bite” Berlanga!!
Berlanga is still learning how to box. He’s nowhere near as good as he looked in his first 16 fights but probably not as bad as he looked in his last three fights either. But he’s also changed somewhat he doesn’t fight hungry at all. His first 16 fights he showed killer instinct and threw punches with bad intentions. Now he’s fighting like he’s trying to be the next Ivan Calderon. Why completely change it up? Improving his game shouldn’t mean changing his game altogether. He’s a power puncher. Teach him some defense, head movement, how to cut off tge ring and work on creative combinations. Trying to turn him into a boxer is a waste of his natural ability and he’s not good at it.
The biggest problem with Berlanga at the moment is his immaturity and trashy behavior. He should’ve been docked 2 pts for the bites and disqualified for the headbutt. No matter what he does next he’s already shown that he’s an asshole.
I feel he won the fight, although not an impressive victory. Endurance was visible throughout the second half of the fight, maybe because he hasn’t fought many rounds, overall. More movement, punching in combinations, lay away from his girlfriend, and then maybe he can become a force to be reckoned with, but for now he doesn’t convince me.
If Edgar was sticking to a “boxing” style instead of aggresive punching style that is one thing. So then I could buy that if he would have doubled up on jab and thrown more 3-4 punch combos. He was just going slowly to pace himself. Unimpressive beating a less impressive opponent that night.(despite Angulos resume) Leads me to think Berlanga’s stamina is suspect. If he used more combinations we could see just how good Angulo’s chin was. But no, sleeper fight. Terrible end to the card after watching 3 pretty good fight cards last weekend. At least he has his magic “0”. He has a chance to improve if he wants to.
Berlanga is the worst fighter I’ve ever seen
He won’t get any title unless he gets the same judges
He’s fighting guys that punch back now. Lol
Berlanga is getting exposed