By Dan Ambrose: Super middleweight Edgar Berlanga says he’s not disappointed that he failed to get a first-round knockout last Saturday night in his eight-round fight against Demond Nicholson in their ESPN-televised fight.
The fight took place at the Silver Spurs Arena, Kissimmee, Florida. Berlanga saw his incredible 16-fight first-round knockout streak end, but he’s still happy with the outcome.
Berlanga got the win by the scores: 79-68 and 79-69, 79-69. The Top Rank promoted Berlanga had Demond down four times in the fight, but he couldn’t keep him down due to his inability to throw combinations.
Pros for Berlanga:
- Power
- Endurance
- Chin
- Poise
Cons:
- Lack of combination punching
- Head-hunting too much
- Slow feet
- Poor defense
A new trainer would be an excellent idea for Berlanga about now, as he needs someone that can take him to the next level.
Right now, it would end badly for Berlanga if he was matched against one of the high-caliber super middleweight in the division.
Berlanga will likely outgrow the 168-lb division within a year or two and wind up at 175, dealing with killers like Artur Beterbiev, Joe Smith Jr, and Dimitry Bivol.
A good super middleweight like David Benavidez would have likely finished Nicholson in round two after the first knockdown, but Berlanga couldn’t do it.
He didn’t have the flurrying ability that was needed to put Nicholson away, which is why the fight turned out to be more difficult than it was expected to be.
The unbeaten Berlanga (17-0, 16 KOs) maintains that he showed his doubters that he can still punch with major power even in the later rounds with his knockdown of the 28-year-old Nicholson (23-4-1, 20 KOs) in round eight.
However, the performance was not impressive, as Berlanga took a lot of shots, looked exhausted after four rounds, and wound up with a badly bruised left eye.
The fight was too competitive and it shouldn’t have been. Nicholson is a fighter that would likely have been obliterated by the talented 168-pounders like David Benavidez, Canelo Alvarez, Caleb Plant, Billy, or Saunders.
Even some of the fringe-level super middleweights like Daniel Jacobs, Gabe Rosado, Ronald Ellis, and Bektemir Melikuziev would have done better against Nicholson than Berlanga.
Edgar Berlanga relieved in seeing streak end
“I’m not disappointed, I’m actually relieved now,” said Berlanga to ESPN when asked if he feels upset at his 16-fight knockout streak ending.
“I got in the rounds, and I actually knocked him down quite a few times. But it was a great experience for me.
Going into the eighth round, a lot of people thought, ‘Ah, he probably won’t have the same power going into the later rounds.’
“But I proved that tonight, proved that I’m a future world champion. I wasn’t in there with a slouch. I was in there with a veteran,” said Berlanga of Nicholson.
There seems to be a disconnect between the positive spin Berlanga is putting on his performance and the reality of what we witnessed. Berlanga did NOT perform like a fighter that is a “future world champion.”
On the contrary, Berlanga fought like a poor man’s version of David Lemieux. Berlanga looked one-dimensional, crude, and showed stamina issues.
You can tell Berlanga has heavy hands, but he doesn’t possess the one-punch power of Lemieux or the power and combination punching ability of David Benavidez.
Unless Top Rank has a long-range plan for Berlanga, he may wind up as a career-long fringe contender. Maybe he might win a paper title when one of the belts comes open.
Berlanga is capable of beating some of the contenders in the division if matched against the right guy.
But it would be a disaster if Berlanga is thrown in there with Benavidez, Canelo, David Morrell, Billy Joe Saunders, or Caleb Plant.
” I know they wanted a first-round knockout, but I enjoyed getting the experience,” said Berlanga.”And I caught him with an amazing shot at 10 seconds of the last round. I wanted to get him out! But I didn’t, but I got the experience.”