“The Chosen One”, Edgar Berlanga, has a chance to step up the competition here against seasoned journeyman, Steve Rolls. While Berlanga is bigger, stronger, and younger, Rolls is not a pushover and has the wide skill set and speed that is ideal to test inexperienced prospects like Berlanga to see where they fall on the ladder.
Steve Rolls: Steve Rolls is your standard wily journeyman fighter, with a wide but shallow pool of tricks and solid fundamentals to back up his game. Generally, the reason he hasn’t been able to step up to his competition is a combination of poor marketing and the fact that while he can do a lot of different things relatively well, elite fighters tend to know the answers to most of the tricks he has, and he doesn’t do them well enough to compete with their higher overall skill. However, these factors make him the perfect test for a prospect like Berlanga, whose lack of meaningful experience makes Rolls’ diverse skillset a true challenge to overcome. Look for Rolls to try and make Berlanga as uncomfortable as possible with stiff jabs and controlled aggression.
Edgar Berlanga: Edgar Berlanga started off his career with a massive KO streak, but the hype around him has cooled significantly with two relatively run-of-the-mill decision wins against what many consider B-tier opposition. He has a chance to reassert himself as an up-and-comer in this latest contest against Steve Rolls, however, a seasoned journeyman who recently went toe-to-toe with Gennady Golovkin. Berlanga has always had a questionable gas tank and has sometimes lacked the defensive capabilities that Rolls will try to exploit, but Berlanga will still come out of the gate swinging as many young fighters do.
Prediction: Berlanga by KO. Berlanga is inexperienced and right now looks kind of limited. However, he’s got a truly unholy right hand as well as youth to bull rush through Rolls’ tricks.
HOW TO WATCH: Live on ESPN+ on March 19, 2022 at 10:00 PM ET.