Edgar Berlanga Ends KO Drought With Single-Punch Stoppage

Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) ended his knockout drought with a sixth-round stoppage victory over Padraig McCrory (18-1, 9 KOs).

The 12-round super middleweight fight headlined a Matchroom Boxing event at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, FL. DAZN were the sole broadcasters for the card. The stoppage victory was Berlanga’s first in just over three years since stopping Ulises Sierra in December 2020.

Edgar Berlanga Defeats Padraig McCory

Berlanga Ends KO Drought

The opening round saw both men exercising caution, neither landing a punch that troubled the other. They picked up the pace slightly in the second with McCrory swinging and missing on some of his punches. Berlanga saw a lot more of his hard punches connecting in round three.

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With just over a minute to go in the fourth, McCrory was shook by a left hook. Though he took a few more shots, he was able to remain standing and make it into the fifth. Berlanga became more aggressive in his approach and began to walk the Belfast native down. McCrory was on the receiving end of some fouls in the early stages of the fight. Berlanga threw an elbow from the clinch in round three and McCrory complained of low blows at certain stages of the bout.

The fight did not last much longer after the fourth. McCrory never quite recovered from what transpired in that round. As Berlanga continued to stalk him down and land hard shots, a right hand to the chin sent McCrory to the canvas in round six. The towel was thrown in and referee Chris Young waved the fight off. The time of stoppage was 2:44.

DOWN GOES MCCRORY AND IT’S OVER 🔥🔥🔥

Sixth round KO 💣#BerlangaMcCrory | @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/ywvdpFoSE9

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) February 25, 2024

Post-Fight Comments

“It feels great to be back, catching a live body,” said Berlanga after the win. “I feel amazing.”

“I told Padraig McCrory, I said ‘I was losing sleep over this fight with him’ because people don’t understand. Irish motherfuckers are strong, man. And he’s undefeated. And he came to fight. He travelled from another country without his family…I know it was tough. He put on one of his [social media] posts, ‘Cinderella Man.’ So I knew, deep down in my heart, he was coming to fight. I prepped very well.”

Berlanga also took the time to call out Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez. The undisputed super middleweight champion is on the lookout for an opponent for a clash in Las Vegas, NV, on May 4. Whether such a fight materializes remains to be seen.

Berlanga-McCrory Undercard Results

Andy Cruz (3-0, 1 KO) won a unanimous decision over Brayan Zamarripa (14-3, 5 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight bout. Scores were 100-90 across the board.

Shakhram Giyasov (15-0, 9 KOs) won via technical decision against Pablo Cesar Cano (35-9-1, 25 KOs, 1 NC) in a 12-round welterweight contest. Cano went down from a body shot in round three. The fight came to an end after round 11 after Cano twisted his ankle and could no longer continue. Giyasov won with scores of 109-99 (x3).

Read More: Berlanga Drops Quigley Four Times En Route To Decision

Antonio Vargas (18-1, 10 KOs, 1 NC) won via eighth-round corner retirement against Jonathan Rodriguez (17-2-1, 7 KOs) in a 12-round bantamweight clash. Vargas went to the canvas in the opening round. Rodriguez was knocked down in rounds two and eight. His corner stopped the fight before the ninth could begin. Vargas was also deducted two points for hitting Rodriguez while he was on the canvas in round two.

Yankiel Rivera (5-0, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Andy Velasquez (10-1, 6 KOs) to open the main card. Scores for the 10-round flyweight contest were 99-91 (x3).

On the “Before the Bell” portion of the card, Joseph Fernandez (18-5-3, 6 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Aaron Aponte (8-2-1, 2 KOs). Scores for the eight-round super lightweight fight were 78-74 (x2) and 77-75.