By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten super middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga of Brooklyn, New York takes on veteran Steve Rolls of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada this Saturday, March 19th. The 10-round bout takes place at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City and can be seen live in North America on ESPN and ESPN+ while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports Action. Berlanga, who recently underwent bicep surgery, last fought in October when he beat Marcelo Coceres by a 10-round unanimous decision despite being dropped in the ninth round. Rolls last saw action in December when he stopped Christopher Brooker in the ninth round.
Most boxing fans had never heard of 37-year-old Steve Rolls until he took on Gennady Golovkin in 2019 and was stopped in the fourth round in his lone career loss as a pro. He’s won two fights by stoppage since then and enters this fight with an impressive mark of 21-1 with 12 Kos. Rolls stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 72-inch wingspan and has boxed 112 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011.
He won the vacant NABF Jr Middleweight Title in 2015 by stopping Steed Woodall in four rounds. But like Woodall, the rest of Rolls’ opponents are also unrecognizable to most fans of course with the exception of Golovkin and perhaps Demond Nicholson. Rolls had a pretty successful and extensive amateur career and reportedly went 83-14.
He’s got slightly better-than-average power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 54.6 per cent and was also dropped in the third round of his fight against Woodall. Rolls has fine boxing skills but fell short when taking his first step up in class against Golovkin and he’s facing another heavy hitter in his second step up in class when he meets Berlanga this weekend.
As for Berlanga, he’s just 24 years old and carries around a perfect record of 18-0 with 16 Kos. He started his pro career in 2016 and flew out of the gate with 16 consecutive first-round knockouts. However, he’s been taken the distance in his last two fights. Still, he owns a highly-impressive knockout ratio of 89 per cent. He’s 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 73-inch each which gives him a three-inch height advantage and one-inch edge in reach on Rolls.
Berlanga also enjoyed a fine amateur career with a reported record of 162-17. He placed second at the 2013 National Police Athletic League Championships (Junior Level), second at the 2013 U.S. National Junior (Under-17) Championships, third at the 2014 U.S. National Youth (Under-19) Championships and second at the 2015 U.S. National Youth (Under-19) Championships.
It’s no secret that Berlanga has depended on his power to get this far with his toughest wins so far being over the likes of Jaime Barboza, Aaron Garcia, Samir dos Santos Barbosa, Cesar Nunez, Eric Moon, Lanell Bellows, Ulises Sierra, Demond Nicholson and Marcelo Coceres with Nicholson and Coceres being the only two to go the distance and also get past the first round.
Prediction…
Berlanga will be facing a crafty veteran but Rolls is 13 years older and couldn’t stand up to the aggressiveness of Golovkin. He may give Berlanga some trouble with his boxing skills but I don’t think he’ll be able to handle his power. I’m expecting Berlanga to extend his unbeaten streak.
