Edgar Berlanga to Fight Steve Rolls in Super Middleweight Bout This March

Edgar Berlanga is heading back to the ring this Spring…

The 24-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer has agreed to terms for a super middleweight fight against Steve Rolls on March 19 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, according to ESPN.

Edgar Berlanga

The bout will be Berlanga’s first since he tore his left biceps in Round 3 of his victory over Marcelo Esteban Coceres in October. Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs) struggled at times in the fight and was even floored in Round 9, the first knockdown of his career.

Following surgery, the 24-year-old rehabbed at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas in preparation for his first headline bout on ESPN. Berlanga, a native of Brooklyn, New York, scored 16 first-round KOs in his first 16 fights.

His April decision win over Demond Nicholson, a fight in which he scored four knockdowns, was the first time he was extended past the opening round.

Before the injury, the bout with Rolls had been eyed as the December 11 co-feature to the Vasiliy LomachenkoRichard Commey fight.

Rolls (21-1, 12 KOs), a 37-year-old Canadian, is best known for his fourth-round KO loss to Gennadiy Golovkin in 2019. He has competed just twice since then, both wins inside the distance.

Edgar Berlanga Agrees to Two-Fight Plan with Top Rank Boxing

Edgar Berlanga is ready to rumble… twice.

The 24-year-old Puerto Rican boxer has agreed to terms on a two-fight plan with Top Rank.

Edgar Berlanga

The first bout comes October 9 in Las Vegas against Marcelo Esteban Coceres, Berlanga said, in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing show on an ESPN platform that will lead into the Tyson FuryDeontay Wilder III fight on pay-per-view.

Berlanga’s second fight is December 11, the co-feature to Vasiliy Lomachenko‘s return in New York at Madison Square Garden. An opponent has yet to be finalized for that bout. The power-punching super middleweight Berlanga is in the midst of a multiyear deal with Top Rank. Financial terms were finalized for both of his upcoming fights.

“I’m knocking these guys in October and December; we’re not going to the scorecards,” said Berlanga (17-0, 16 KOs). “I want to let the world know after these two fights that I’m the guy they need to worry about.”

Berlanga was extended the distance for the first time in his last bout, an April win over Demond Nicholson. It was the first time Berlanga heard the bell to signal the start of Round 2 in his pro career. He scored first-round knockouts in each of his first 16 fights.

Berlanga dropped Nicholson three times but settled for the unanimous-decision victory. The Brooklynite will now face another durable opponent in Coceres (30-2-1, 16 KOs). The 30-year-old Argentine is best known for an 11th-round KO loss to Billy Joe Saunders in a 2019 title fight. That was his only fight outside of Argentina.

In January, Coceres lost again, this time a split-decision defeat to Sebastian Horacio Papeschi in Argentina. He rebounded with a second-round stoppage win in June over Nelson Nicolas Rosalez.

The two-fight plan promises to give Berlanga his greatest exposure yet as he inches closer to title contention. Despite 17 pro fights, he remains inexperienced with just 24 rounds in the professional ranks.

If all goes according to plan, Berlanga will return in March to Puerto Rico (the country his family hails from) before headlining at Madison Square Garden in June on Puerto Rican Parade Day weekend.