Berlanga says perception shifted once he stopped scoring early knockouts
Edgar Berlanga says fan reaction changed once his early knockout run ended. The super middleweight says criticism grew when he started going the distance.
“It was a good thing and a bad thing. It wasn’t my fault that I was knocking people out in the first round,” said Berlanga to The Danza Project. “The good thing was I blew up quick in the sport. But the bad thing was once I wasn’t giving people knockouts, it was like, ‘Oh, he’s a bum. He’s no good.’ They was just looking at all my flaws. They wasn’t appreciating me. I was giving everybody knockouts. Knockouts. Knockouts. Then once I started going the distance, it changed fast. That’s New York. They say, ‘He lost it. He’s done.’”
Berlanga opened his professional career with 16 consecutive first-round knockouts, quickly becoming one of boxing’s most talked-about young punchers during his rise at super middleweight. The streak helped turn him into a major attraction in New York and among Puerto Rican boxing fans, but expectations around him also changed once opponents began surviving the early rounds.
During the same interview with The Danza Project, Berlanga compared boxing fan culture to the UFC, arguing that MMA fans continue supporting stars after losses while boxing fans often abandon fighters much faster.
“That’s why I love the UFC. The UFC fans are die-hard fans. Even the casuals are,” said Edgar. “Once they like you, they support you. Conor McGregor could announce a fight right now, and it’s going to sell out. Boxing fans, you get one loss, and it’s forget about it.”
Berlanga recently signed with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing following losses to Saul Alvarez and Hamzah Sheeraz, and has repeatedly said he believes the move will help rebuild his career and reconnect him with casual sports fans.
