By Vince D’Writer: Four months after signing with Matchroom Boxing, super-middleweight contender Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga made his debut with his new promotional company and scored a unanimous decision victory over Jason Quigley (20-3, 14 KOs) on June 24th at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Berlanga was coming off a one-year layoff, and on Saturday night, he planned on making an exciting return to the squared circle. In the first two rounds of the fight, the Irish boxer Jason Quigley boxed well as he tried to maintain distance and throw his counter shots.
During the third round of the bout, Quigley was having himself a productive round until disaster struck in the final seconds of the third when Berlanga landed a chopping right hand that sent Quigley down to the canvas. Quigley was able to rise to his feet as the bell sounded to officially end the round.
Two rounds later, Berlanga landed a couple of shots to the body and followed it up with a big left hook. With 32 seconds remaining in the 5th, Jason Quigley maneuvered out of the corner and was hit with a body shot that sent him back down to the canvas.
Quigley tried to make the argument that he slipped, but the referee stated that a punch landed, and he was calling it a knockdown. During the second half of the fight, Quigley had flashes of success when he punched in-between Berlanga’s punches, but disaster would strike again for the Irishman during the final round.
With 1:29 left to go in the bout, Edgar Berlanga landed a three-two combination that sent Quigley down to the canvas for the third time in the fight. Forty seconds later Berlanga would score a fourth knockdown, but Quigley was able to get up and make it to the final bell.
The fight went to the judge’s scorecards, and Edgar Berlanga was awarded the unanimous decision victory with the scores of 116-108, 116-108, and 118-106. The judges had him favored by a wide margin, but Berlanga remained strict during his post-fight interview when he was asked to grade his performance.
“I give it a C. I’m just grateful, and I want to thank my Lord and Savior for being here, man, for being healthy. It’s a year layoff from a bicep injury, and I had to recover from that.”
With his victory on Saturday night, Edgar Berlanga improved his record to (21-0, 16 KOs). Out of habit, as soon as a boxer such as Berlanga scores a victory inside the squared circle, the first question everyone wants to be answered is the question of who’s next.
Prior to the fight, Edgar Berlanga spoke about the possibility of future bouts with Gennadiy Golovkin or Jermall Charlo, but the one name that was mentioned multiple times during the course of the night was the name, Jaime Munguia.
A clash between 26-year-old Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) and 26-year-old Edgar Berlanga is a bout that is guaranteed to produce fireworks. Both fighters are power punches, both are in their primes, and both are looking for a profile enhancing signature win.
Promoter Eddie Hearn acknowledged the fact that a Berlanga-Munguia clash would be a great fight. Edgar Berlanga wants to step in the ring one more time this year, and during his post-fight press conference he reiterated the fact that Munguia is the boxer he wants to face next.
“I feel like that’s the biggest fight right now. I want him in October in the big house, Madison Square Garden. I know that’s the fight that everybody wants to see. We definitely want Munguia next for sure, for sure. I want that motherf**ker. He’s Mexican, I’m Puerto Rican, I got the man here, the best promoter in the game, and I know he’s going to make it happen for us.”
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya made a social media comment about Eddie Hearn failing to secure a Canelo fight for Edgar Berlanga, and now he’s throwing Munguia’s name around. De La Hoya proceeded to wish Eddie Hearn good luck in his quest to make a Berlanga-Munguia bout.
Eddie Hearn responded by stating, “Oscar De La Hoya works for DAZN. So he’s a f**kin complete idiot, to be honest with you, because his job is to put on good fights for DAZN, and he hasn’t really done that with Jaime Munguia, is he? I mean he’s probably the worst managed career I’ve ever seen in the history of boxing, Jaime Munguia.”
Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia are two boxers who are both young, strong, and hungry to excel to the elite level. A fight between these two combatants would be very entertaining because, at the end of the night, one of them would earn a signature win, and also, by the end of the night, somebody’s 0 would have to go.