BRUTAL Fight That Shocked The World | Edgar Berlanga vs Steve Rolls

Steve, Edgar, you've already received your pre-match instructions. Keep it clean, obey my commands at all times, and most of all, protect yourself at all times. Trunks are good, touch them up, good luck to both of you. Joe Tessitore, Tim Bradley, Andre Ward with you, calling the action ringside live here from New York. Dre, you mentioned earlier, you said Berlanga needs to wake up his legs, doesn't need to be gripping the canvas so much and gripping, pressing for the expected knockout. What do you expect early on? Well, I want to see him box, and he can be ready if a big punch becomes available. Well, I'll tell you what I'm looking for tonight. I mean, for Berlanga, he can't afford to lose the jab battle. You know, and he also can't afford to fall asleep and allow Rose to kind of gain any confidence throughout this fight. And he needs to let Rose know right away that he is 37, that he is 24, and he's 37. So he's thrown one jab thus far, we're a minute and a half in, he needs to pick that left hand up. See, Steve Rose right now is doing exactly what he needs to do. He needs to, you know, hide behind that jab, move, take this fight into the later rounds and use his experience. Expectation has been a word that has always been pinned on Berlanga. And Tim, we've talked about it before, that knockout streak, as much attention as it grabbed, mainstream attention it grabbed of 16 consecutive first-round knockouts, it didn't serve him well in terms of career management and development. And then, of course, last April, Damon Nicholson went the 8-round distance, and yet Berlanga had great moments in that fight, scored 4 knockdowns, rounds 2, 3, 5, and a big thudding blow in round number 8. Edgar Berlanga taking the instructions from Andre Roger as well as Kay Karoma. You know, at the end of that first round, he did land a clipping right hand. He's very heavy-handed. We've seen him put guys down before with shots like this. Yeah, but what do you see right there? You see the lunge. You see the wide-open left hook right there, and you see the right hand over the top. That lets me know right away that Rose had some success that round. Because he wants to send them home ooing and awing. I think he can still get it if he boxes, but I see him having this mental battle right now. There's that right hand over the top again, clipping. Understand that he's a smaller guy. He's a middleweight coming up to this weight class. And he knows that he needs Berlanga to weaken a bit. Ooh, he got caught with that right hand right over the top. That cut, well-managed by Mike Basil, the veteran cut man, after the round, is on the left eye, the corner of the left eye. Watch the elbow right there. See the elbow of Steve Rose, and then immediately we saw the blood coming from that left eye of Edgar Berlanga. Now the commission is saying it's an accidental clash. So obviously an accidental clash, if we get through four rounds, we would go to the scorecards for a technical decision if the fight was stopped because of that cut. How much longer he can move backwards and fight the way he's fighting. You've got to understand, he's 37 years old. It takes a lot out of you to fight off your back foot. Yeah, but he's not getting hit, Tim, and Berlanga's not cutting off the ring. To your point, Berlanga's only landed six jabs, according to CompuBox. He's got charisma. He can fight. He didn't have to get first-round knockouts to wow the people. There's a lot of ways to wow the people and get the people behind you. And he's got all the other, he checks all the other boxes. Waiting on that right hand. I was just about to say, that right hand, that jab is coming out at the same speed from Berlanga. At one speed. Right hand right over the top right there by Rose. Sneaky right hand. Round four from New York. Let's go back and see that right hand from Steve Rose in that third round. Oh yeah, you see the hands right there, down right there of Berlanga. The left hand down. You see him step back to try to get distance, left himself wide open for the right hand of Rose. Ooh, he hurt. Ooh, he was hurt with that shot. If that right hand would have landed flush on that chin, it probably would have been lights out for Rose. If I'm in Rose's corner, I'm letting him know right now, get up on your jab. Look, you see when I told you that I was concerned about having so many voices in the corner? Yes. You see any hesitation from Berlanga? A lot of thinking going on from Berlanga. I'm looking for the new stuff. I don't see anything new, but just patience. I'm looking for the change up of the cadence with the jab. I'm looking for the jab down to the body from Berlanga. Something new. Something different. But I haven't seen it yet. In that fourth round, Edgar Berlanga landed six of his eight power punches thrown. There was a right hand that got your attention that you said, if it was flush, it should be over the fence. Definitely. I want you to pay attention to the center line. Right there, one guy keeps his head on the line. One guy gets his head off the line. Berlanga gets his head off the line. Check this out. That right there is called an even exchange. Both guys exchange with their right hands. He's trying to get himself in position to land that one big shot. That knockout real shot. And that's not the answer. It may be the answer tonight. But long term, that's not the answer for Berlanga. Berlanga needs to throw combinations. Berlanga needs to forget. I know it's hard. But try to forget that you have the power to show your other ability. It's not enough to talk about it. It's time to show it. It's not easy at all. You're right about that. And he got home. Ambrose is not out of the woods right now. And all it takes is one shot from this guy, Berlanga, on the chin and his life's out. Nice right hand right there to the body. And working on that cut, interestingly, because it's on the left side, he has to turn his head to the right. So he's facing Kay Karoma opposite his longtime trainer, who was flanked on the other side, Andre Rozier. People don't realize in that corner, like, it's controlled chaos. Rose got to be careful going to the well all too often. That right hand, now Berlanga's trying to set a trap for him. Berlanga can switch up his pace with his feet and his hands. I think he'll get this knockout. But at this pace, Rose can time him, still may get him, still may land the big shot, but it's going to be a lot harder. Very incredible to think that come this September, that will be 21 years, that fight, that middleweight unification that you mentioned that was right here in this building. And I'm sure many of these fans are here a generation later to see Edgar Berlanga were there that night as well to see the great Tito Trinidad against Bernard Hopkins. But a point well taken as we come to the end of round number six, Edgar Berlanga returned from the bicep surgery and the first knockdown he suffered. Round seven scheduled for ten. There's Rose looking for the right hand. I think you're going to see Rose get a little bit more emboldened in the second half of the fight, especially if he feels like Berlanga is starting to fade, which we heard from this corner, he did a good right hand from Rose, straight to the gut. Do you understand that Berlanga has been following Rose around the ring? He hasn't been cutting off the ring at all and doing it properly? You understand that? That's what's going on right now. He's following him, literally following him around the ring. What he needs to do is he needs to bring that back foot towards the outside of that lead foot, get ahead of that jab, so that way he can come over the top with the right hand. Steve Rose is getting more and more confident right before our eyes. Popping that jab off the hip. That's it. Pow, pow, pow. That's what the jab does. Frustrates you upon it. Yeah, he has. And because he's coming the same way, the same speed, it's just allowed Rose to get into a rhythm where he knows, okay, here he comes. Block, block, block. Okay, go back to work. Been able to time the rhythm of Edgar Berlanga. He's been with Berlanga for a long ride, saying gave that round away, get back to basics, and that means smart pressure, smart pressure. Let's see if he can apply that. Yeah, he's slowly coming off. The right hand is what Steve Rose wants. You need to understand. And that's the punch that Berlanga has neglected tonight, Tim, is the left hand. And I said that in the beginning. I said he cannot afford to get outjabbed. And he's allowing Rose to outjab him. Boy, you got to let him wear down. You got the young guy. Tons of energy. You got to let him wear down a bit. You know, fights are won strategically. They're won by the brain. You got to use your mind. Good body shot for Berlanga. Ooh, see that right hand again from Rose. Lead right hand. See, even that jab is a power jab. Every jab is a power jab instead of a flicking jab. The same jab that Rose is hitting Berlanga with, Berlanga needs to hit Rose with. Oh, that body shot hurt. That body shot hurt. He hurt him with that. That gives Steve Rose something to think about. The right hand to the body on that last exchange. Big work is the call to order for Berlanga as we have the last six minutes here. Total punches through eight rounds. Rose a 95-87 connect advantage. With the swing that we saw, Dre has given Rose the last three rounds. Still has Berlanga up 77-75. Good exchange from both men. Sure was. Body shot with the left hand from Berlanga. See, that's the focus right there. He needs a focus and a purpose in there. The body work is the key. It's a tough, tough round to score right here. Rose will have a moment like that. Then Berlanga will have a moment. And then Rose will have a moment. Good shot right there from Berlanga. Nice right hand. Tenth and final round as the crowd rises out of their seats for three minutes of support for Edgar Berlanga. Edgar Berlanga needs to step it up, and he knows it. But he has to believe in his preparation. Good jab. See, Edgar Berlanga's having a hard time landing the right hand. See, if you know Edgar, he's left-handed. Rose has been going away from that left hand all night, so Edgar's best punch, which is left hook, has had a hard time finding a home. Ladies and gentlemen, after ten rounds here inside the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, we go to the judges' scorecards for the official decision. Frank Lombardi scores the bout 96-94. Thomas Carasone and Mark Constantino both score the bout 97-93 for your winner by unanimous decision, and still NABO Super Middleweight Champion, Edgar, the Chosen One, Berlanga! I think the judges were right in that correct range of how they saw the fight, how we saw the fight.