Edgar Berlanga ends knockout drought with sixth round stoppage win over Padraig McCrory in Orlando
Plus, the boxing news of the week, including Taylor-Catterall, Haney-Garcia, Joshua-Ngannou, David Benavidez and Gervonta Davis
Edgar Berlanga scored his first knockout victory since 2020 by stopping Padraig McCrory in the sixth round last night at the Caribe Royale Orlando.
Berlanga landed a powerful overhand right which dropped McCrory and before the Irishman could beat the referee's count, his team threw in the towel.
Despite a couple of cagey opening rounds, Berlanga started to experience some success in the fourth round when he connected with a flush left hook that wobbled McCrory and the fifth round saw Berlanga land a variety of combinations.
McCrory managed to catch Berlanga with a firm right hand in the third round, yet ‘The Hammer’ was unable to hurt his opponent and lacked the athleticism to stay competitive.
Going into the McCrory fight, Berlanga had failed to win by knockout in his last five contests, and ‘The Chosen One’ was struggling to find the same form that allowed him to attain 16 knockouts in his first 16 bouts.
Nevertheless, Berlanga produced one of the best performances of his career to improve his undefeated record to 22-0 with 17 KOs, before calling for a fight against Canelo Alvarez on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Canelo still does not have an opponent for May 4th and Berlanga could be a lucrative option due to his growing popularity and Puerto Rican heritage.
Meanwhile, McCrory suffered his first pro loss and now has a record of 18 wins and one defeat.
News of the week
Andy Cruz cruises to third professional win
On the undercard of Berlanga-McCrory, Andy Cruz captured the third win of his professional career by winning every round against Brayan Zamarripa Rodriguez.
Cruz almost landed every punch in the book on Rodriguez but he was unable to drop or stop his Mexican opponent, who proved to be an awkward target throughout.
From round one it was clear that Rodriguez just wanted to survive the ten rounds with Cruz and he succeeded, albeit by boxing the majority of the fight with a bloody face and a lack of offense.
Cruz, an Olympic gold medallist at Tokyo 2020, now has a pro record of 3-0 with 1 KO besides being ranked in the top 15 of the IBF and WBC lightweight rankings.
Heated pressers for Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall 2
Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall got heated in their first two press conferences ahead of their rematch on April 27th at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
In Edinburgh, Catterall grabbed Taylor’s neck during a face-off, and in Manchester, Catterall slapped Taylor on the back of the head at the start of the presser.
It’s been over two years since Taylor claimed a controversial split-decision win against Catterall to retain the undisputed super lightweight championship and there is still animosity between the Brits.
Taylor-Catterall is arguably the most bitter British rivalry since Carl Froch knocked out George Groves at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people almost ten years ago.
Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia confirmed for April 20th
Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia will fight on April 20th at the Barclays Center in New York after clashing six times in the amateur ranks.
Haney and Garcia have three wins each, but in the pro game Haney has been more successful by becoming undisputed at 135 lbs and then dominating Regis Prograis to capture the WBC super lightweight title.
Garcia is coming off an impressive knockout win over Oscar Duarte Jurado in December, although ‘King Ry’ lost his undefeated record last April when he was stopped by Gervonta Davis in Las Vegas.
However, unlike Davis, there will be no catchweight or rehydration clause when Haney fights Garcia.
Before their fight was officially confirmed, Haney and Garcia had a heated confrontation at Super Bowl Radio Row where they almost came to blows.
Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou is less than two weeks away
Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou will collide on March 8th in Riyadh and the victor could face the winner of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua has said he wants to become a three-time world champion but first he must beat Ngannou, who many thought was unfortunate to not get the decision against Fury last October.
However, Joshua wasn’t shocked to see Fury struggle with Ngannou and believes he would have had a similar level of success.
“No, I wasn’t surprised at all,” Joshua said in an interview with DAZN.
“I've watched Tyson Fury box a number of times - people claim he's the greatest of many generations, but I think if I boxed Tyson Fury a lot of similarities would happen in the fight.”
Fury-Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship is rescheduled for May 18th so Joshua has a chance to gain bragging rights by beating Ngannou beforehand.
David Benavidez set to move up to 175 lbs to fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk
David Benavidez is planning to face Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC interim light heavyweight championship in June while he waits for a shot at Canelo Alvarez.
If Benavidez defeats Gvozdyk he could become a mandatory WBC challenger at both 168 and 175 lbs.
Benavidez is coming off a sensational performance against Demetrius Andrade in November, yet he is unlikely to face Canelo next for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
Benavidez’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz has claimed that PBC offered Canelo a guaranteed purse of $55 million but Eddy Reynoso, Canelo’s trainer has denied this offer was sent.
Meanwhile, Gvozdyk attained three consecutive victories in 2023 and returned to boxing after a tenth-round stoppage loss to Artur Beterbiev in 2019.
Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin agreed for WBA world title
Gervonta Davis is set to defend the WBA lightweight world title against Frank Martin in late spring or early summer, according to Mike Coppinger.
Davis has not fought since knocking out Ryan Garcia last April in the 7th round due to being sentenced to a house arrest from a hit-and-run incident in 2020 and then getting sent to jail for 90 days for breaching the conditions of his house arrest.
Despite having problems with the law, Davis is still ranked by Ring Magazine as the ninth-best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
Martin, on the other hand, has not competed since capturing a close unanimous decision against Artem Harutyunyan to stay undefeated last July at the Chelsea Ballroom in Las Vegas.
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About Daniele D’Alessio: Over the last few years Dan has written hundreds of articles for websites such as GiveMeSport, Sportskeeda, WorldInSport, NY Fights and Fights ATW in addition to conducting several interviews with professional and amateur boxers.