The New York fighter of Puerto Rican origin Edgar Berlanga returned to the path of victory with a convincing performance by beating Canadian Steven Butler via technical knockout in the seventh round.

The main event of the Zuffa Boxing 09 card, held at the Infosys Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York, required the Brooklyn fighter to overcome a knockdown in the second round to end up imposing the strength of his punch and improve his professional record to 24 wins, two losses and 19 fast-track definitions.

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The opening round showed both contestants analyzing the distance from the center area of ​​the ring. The New York athlete began with a cautious approach, studying the displacement of an opponent who came to the event with a streak of four consecutive victories by knockout.

An unexpected fall at the beginning of the fight

The actions increased in intensity during the second chapter, when Edgar Berlanga began to connect effective combinations on the opponent's humanity. However, in the last seconds of that episode, Butler landed a direct blow to the head that sent the Puerto Rican to the mat in a surprising way. The local fighter managed to rejoin immediately, showing physical stability before the official's protection count.

At the end of the engagement, Edgar Berlanga analyzed that critical moment during the interview given to the official broadcast about the ring: "It was a technical oversight where it caught me well off balance, but at no time did I feel hurt. I knew I had the physical condition and mental control to adjust the strategy immediately," declared the boxer to explain his rapid recovery.

Tactical dominance and progressive punishment

From the third episode onwards, the confrontation took a favorable turn for the local corner. The New York fighter landed a straight right that destabilized the Canadian from the first moments of the round, initiating systematic punishment to the body and face of his opponent as the regulatory actions took place.

The superiority over the ensogado was accentuated between the fourth and sixth round. Although Butler maintained a brave stance trying to respond to short-range exchanges, he lost the precision necessary to stop the rival offense. At the close of the sixth episode, a heavy combination of impacts sent the Canadian to the canvas, leaving the definition of the fight practically on track.

The definition and the panorama in super medium

The end of the evening occurred at the beginning of the seventh round, when the local boxer came out to corner his opponent against the ropes. After absorbing a continuous flurry of blows to the head with no active defensive response, referee Eric Dali intervened to officially stop the fight at 1:14 minutes into the round as Butler fell to the mat again.

In the press conference after the event, the athlete reflected on the meaning of this result in his first presentation with the new promoter: "This victory represents a necessary restart in my career. I had come from facing complex scenarios and I needed to prove to myself and the division that I still belong to the 168-pound elite," said Edgar Berlanga.

This victory allows the boxer to leave behind a difficult period in which he recorded two defeats in his three previous appearances against Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez by decision and against Hamzah Sheeraz by knockout.