Maybe Edgar Berlanga is more frustrated than anyone over the way his KO streak has come to a shuddering halt. Last night at Madison Square Garden, the unbeaten super-middleweight was again forced to go the distance in a fight, this time when Alexis Angulo extended him the full ten rounds. Before the fight on The Puerto Rican Day Parade, a proud Berlanga said he would give the fans a thrilling KO victory. It didn’t happen, as the 25 year old had to make do with another workmanlike decision win.
Berlanga got the win, via scores of 98-92, 99-91, 99-91, and he is now 20-0(16), but the big talking point has been the “bite,” or “bites” Berlanga tried to inflict on Angulo, 27-3(23).
With plenty of stories having hit the net comparing Berlanga’s seventh round actions to those of Mike Tyson in the infamous “Bite Fight” with Evander Holyfield in 1997, Berlanga has got all the wrong kind of publicity. Berlanga, in the 7th round, first tried to bite his opponent on the shoulder, before he switched to targetting Angulo’s left ear. It was shocking stuff, even though Berlanga was not penalised, this because the referee never saw the two bite attempts. If the third man in the ring had seen the two attempted fouls, who knows what might have happened?
Berlanga tried to defend his actions, saying Angulo was being dirty with his elbows and that he “didn’t want to get cut.” There is, though, no excuse for biting, or trying to bite, your opponent – we all know that. Again, maybe Berlanga – who in his first 16 pro fights won inside the very first round each time – is frustrated at the way his KO’s have dried up. Now having been taken the distance in his last four fights, fans are asking themselves if Berlanga is the big puncher he once appeared to be.
On the plus side, Berlanga is still unbeaten and he has a strong following. But “The Chosen One” is in need of an impressive performance and soon. And a foul-free performance.
