Edgar Berlanga drops Jason Quigley four times en route to decision victory

Edgar Berlanga was anticipated to make fast work of Jason Quigley, who suffered a damaged jaw en path to a second-round stoppage loss to then-WBO middleweight titleholder Demetrius Andrade in his final bout of significance in November 2021. Nonetheless, the Irish veteran proved recreation and pesky with stick-and-move techniques that prolonged the bout to the ultimate bell, giving Berlanga, who had been out of the ring for one 12 months whereas rehabbing a biceps damage and altering promoters, a lot wanted rust-shaking rounds.

Berlanga (21-0, 16 KOs), as soon as a ballyhooed puncher on account of his streak of 16 first-round stoppages, was taken the space for the fifth consecutive combat, however the Brooklyn native gained comfortably on the scorecards because of 4 knockdowns scored. Berlanga, who was making his Matchroom Boxing/DAZN debut on the Hulu Theater inside Madison Sq. Backyard, dropped Quigley (20-3, 14 KOs) with a chopping proper to the ear on the finish of Spherical 3, then scored a questionable knockdown (which seemed extra like a slip) through the remaining 30 seconds of Spherical 5, and eventually sealed the deal by flooring a fatigued Quigley twice in Spherical 12.

Berlanga gained by scores of 116-108 (twice) and 118-106, however he was troubled by Quigley’s jab, lateral/upper-body motion and counterpunching for a lot of the combat, igniting his coach to yell “You’re sleeping! Are you awake!?” between Rounds 6 and seven. Berlanga was certainly plodding in his pursuit and at occasions his aggression and offense was neutralized by Quigley’s footwork and well-timed counters, however he additionally completed robust in his first 12-round bout.

🗣️ Agency directions within the Berlanga nook

Into spherical 7 #BerlangaQuigley pic.twitter.com/l4QnH1Wnge

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) June 25, 2023

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican attraction gave his efficiency a ‘C’ grade, but in addition chalked it as much as what he referred to as “survival techniques” from the 32-year-old Quigley.

“Everybody that I face at this degree goes to run and simply attempt to go the space,” stated Berlanga, who expects higher fights — and a return to knockout victories — with the highest fighters of the tremendous middleweight division.

Berlanga’s new promoter Eddie Hearn floated the thought of a Puerto Rico-vs.-Mexico showdown with Jaime Munguia, who made his debut within the 168-division earlier this month with a 12-round struggle in opposition to Sergiy Derevyanchenko. No person would complain about that matchup.