Berlanga goes the distance with Quigg
On Saturday night, June 25, 2023, Madison Square Garden in New York City played host to an intense boxing match between two highly skilled fighters, Edgar Berlanga and Jason Quigley. Berlanga, an undefeated New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, had a lot at stake in this match as it was his first fight under the Matchroom Boxing banner, and he was looking to establish himself as a potential opponent for the undisputed super-middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez. Meanwhile, Irishman Quigley was coming into the match as an 8/1 underdog with bookies, having previously been stopped twice, including a disastrous two-round knockout against Demetrious Andrade in his initial world title effort.
The match started tentatively, with Quigley trying to impose himself early against his far more powerful adversary. However, Berlanga was landing the bigger shots in the opening exchanges, and it was clear that Quigley was outmatched in terms of power. Berlanga looked close to landing his big power shots throughout the second but wasn't keen to pull the trigger, before putting Quigley down in the third with a solid left hook.
From the fourth round onwards, Berlanga began to push the pace, searching for his first stoppage since December of 2020. Quigley was moving and trying to survive, but he ultimately succumbed to his second knockdown when a body shot caught him while he was on the way to slipping. In round six, Berlanga stalked his prey, allowing Quigley back into it, even though the Irishman tasted the canvas a third time, this time ruled a slip.
Round seven saw Quigley come into his own, staggering Berlanga during a couple of exchanges. However, as they headed into the eighth, Berlanga appeared to lose a step, allowing his rival in a lot more in the exchanges. The ninth saw both men land significantly, with the tenth almost dead even as Quigley began to dance around Berlanga.
In the first eleventh round of either fighter's career, the pace was understandably slower, and the round was pushed even longer when a low blow from Berlanga, not his first offence of the evening, was finally called. However, round 12 saw Berlanga gunning for the finish, dropping Quigley halfway through before unloading in an effort to end the night, picking up a dodgy second knockdown. Ultimately, those two scores bailed the 26-year-old out on home turf in yet another difficult night at the office.
The match was witnessed by a packed out Theatre at Madison Square Garden, with Berlanga being one of the best ticket sellers in his hometown. Irishman Quigley also attracted a solid base in his own regard alongside a host of local undercard fighters, making for a cauldron of noise in the famed venue by bell time in the main event.
Unfortunately for Berlanga and promoter Eddie Hearn, the bloom was taken off the rose of the night's action by Canelo Alvarez's announcement that he would be heading to PBC. Plans had been in place to build Berlanga as a potential opponent for Alvarez under the Matchroom banner, but the undisputed super-middleweight champion has now signed a multi-fight deal elsewhere.
On the undercard, local prospect Reshat Mati scraped stopped game veteran Dakota Linger in the ninth, before local hero Adam Kownacki returned to the ring, arguably the most popular fighter of the night. Polish fans in attendance roared on the heavyweight like it was his show, but with his career on the line, he was brutally dropped in the first round by the little fancied Joe Cusumano. Kownacki did tremendously well to recover for a solid second and third, arguably winning both before a razor-close fourth and a difficult fifth. But his incredible comeback wasn't to be as Cusumano refused to relent and handed him his fourth straight defeat with a stoppage in the eighth.
Finesse Boxing