A battle of unbeatens headlines a card at Caribe Royale, Orlando on Saturday, and the big-punching Edgar Berlanga takes on Northern Ireland’s Padraig McCrory over a scheduled twelve rounds at super middleweight.
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom promote Berlanga vs McCrory whilst DAZN televise the bill live worldwide.
Berlanga (21-0, 16 KOs) shot to fame by starting his career with 16 straight knockout wins, but after his run was halted with an eight round points win against Demond Nicholson in 2021, the New Yorker has gone the distance in each of his last four outings.
‘The Chosen One’ had to get off the deck to outpoint Marcelo Coceres, and then took a points win against Steve Rolls in March 2022, before widely outscoring Roamer Alexis Angulo three months later.
The 26-year-old was hit with a six-month suspension after attempting to bite Angulo and his last appearance came in June and he went twelve rounds for the first time, dropping Jason Quigley four times on route to a wide win on the cards.
McCrory (18-0, 9 KOs) represents the first unbeaten fighter that Berlanga has faced, and the Belfast man takes a major step-up in class.
A former WBC International Silver champion at the weight, the 35-year-old also held the IBO belt at light heavyweight in 2022, halting Leon Bunn in six in Germany.
‘The Hammer’ has gone the full ten rounds in his last two contests, the most recent a points win against Steed Woodhall in August last year.
Prediction: Berlanga isn’t the finished article, but is being matched intelligently, and McCrory looks an opponent he can look good against. I think Berlanga can win in the first half of the contest.
Cruz returns
The highly-touted Andy Cruz (2-0, KO1) is on a fast track to world honours, and fights for the third time as a professional against Mexico’s Brayan Zamarripa Rodriguez.
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2020 Olympic gold medallist, Cruz (2-0, 1 KO) blitzed Jovanni Stratton in three rounds in December and looks to defend the IBF International lightweight title he claimed on debut against Rodriguez (14-2, 5 KOs) who has never been stopped.
Prediction: Cruz will become the first man to stop Rodriguez here.
Giyasov faces Cano
Unbeaten welterweight, Shakhram Giyasov will be looking for a title shot this year and puts his WBA number one spot on the lines against faded former world title challenger, Pablo Cesar Cano over a scheduled twelve.
Giyasov (14-0, 9 KOs) is coming off points win against the unbeaten Harold Eduardo Calderon last June, while Cano (35-8-1, 25 KOs) has won twice since being wiped out in two rounds against Danielito Zorrilla in 2021.
Prediction: Giyasov can win via stoppage.
Remaining Undercard
The third and final twelve rounder comes at bantamweight, where Jonathan Rodriguez (17-1-1, 7 KOs), who is coming off a first round knockout win against Kal Yafai, can take victory on the cards against Antonio Vargas (17-1, 9 KOs).
The other ten rounder is at flyweight, where Yankiel Rivera Figueroa (4-0, 2 KOs) can extend his unbeaten run with a points win against Andy Dominguez Velasquez (10-0, 6 KOs).
It’s over!
Jonathan Rodriguez stops Kal Yafai in the first round 😮 @DAZNBoxing #YafaiRodriguez #PachecoCoceres pic.twitter.com/FpHIFGFY3K
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) November 19, 2023
At super lightweight, Aaron Aponte (8-1-1, 2 KOs) can win on points over eight against Joseph Fernandez (17-5-3, 6 KOs) and undefeated Cuban heavyweight, Herich Ruiz Cordoba (4-0, 3 KOs) can win inside schedule in his four rounder with debutant Joshua Brice.
