Super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs) fights this Saturday night against the powerful Steve Rolls (21-1, 12 KOs) in a must-watch bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Berlanga, 24, has longed to headline a fight at MSG in New York since he was a kid, and he’s finally getting the opportunity to do that against the 37-year-old Canadian Rolls.
Granted, Berlanga would prefer to be taking on Canelo Alvarez, but he hasn’t gotten quite to that level yet in his career.
The New York native Berlanga isn’t even 25 yet and still hasn’t cut his teeth on his first true world-class contender during his six-year professional career.
The card is loaded with prospects promoted by Top Rank, some of which could rise up to become world champions in the future.
Full Berlanga-Rolls card
- Edgar Berlanga vs. Steve Rolls
- Xander Zayas vs. Quincy LaVallais
- John Bauza vs. Tony Luis
- Jahi Tucker vs. Tracey McGruder
- Henry Lebron vs. Josec Ruiz
- Kelvin Davis vs. Phillip Carmouche
- Bruce Carrington vs. Arturo De Islas
Where to watch Berlanga vs. Rolls
Berlanga vs. Rolls will be shown LIVE on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ in the United States. Sky Sports will show the fight in the UK. The date and start time are as follows March 19th at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
Although this is supposedly a step-up bout for Berlanga, it’s arguably a step down from his last fight against Marcelo Esteban Coceres (30-3-1, 16 KOs).
Berlanga almost lost to Coceres last October, getting knocked down in the ninth round and barely making it out of the contest with a 10 round decision.
Rolls has better power than 31-year-old Argentinian Coceres, but he’s not nearly as tough. As long as Berlanga’s chin doesn’t betray him or he suffers another bicep injury, he should get Rolls out of there fairly quickly on Saturday night.
For Berlanga to be tested in the true sense, Top Rank will need to take the training wheels off him and match him against one of these contenders:
- Danny Jacobs
- Zach Parker
- Demetrius Andrade
- Carlos Gongora
- Jose Uzcategui
- Lerrone Richards
- Anthony Dirrell
Will Berlanga win?
The New York native Berlanga started out his career with 16 consecutive first round knockouts, which had many boxing fans talking about him.
However, it was evident from watching his opposition that he was being matched against subpar opposition that had no business being inside the ring with him or pretty much any contender.
The cracks started to show in Berlanga’s facade when he was put in with Demond Nicholson last year in April when he struggled to beat him, having to go the eight round distance to win.
Berlanga looked mortal in that fight, and even worse in his last contest against the capable Coceres.
What those two contests showed is that Berlanga isn’t ready for prime time, and might take many years of hard work before he can compete with the cream of the 168-lb division.
It was troubling this week to hear Berlanta talk about wanting to be given a title shot against Canelo Alvarez because that made it painfully obvious that he’s just looking for a cash-out without earning his stripes the way normal contenders do.
As for Rolls, he was stopped in the fourth round by Gennady Golovkin in 2019. It’s unknown why Golovkin chose to fight Rolls, as he’d done nothing in his career that would suggest that he rates a fight against him or any contender.
In his two fights since that loss, Rolls has beaten Christopher Brooker and Gilberto Pereira dos Santos. Those are low-level opposition, which is why Rolls had an easy time stopping them.
Rolls does have power, though, if he touch Berlanga’s chin with his shots in the way that Coceres did, he could drop him. Whether Rolls can keep Berlanga down is the important question.
