Via Dan Ambrose: Tim Bradley says he saw mental flaws in his bout with super-middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga last Saturday night in his questionable 10-round unanimous decision win over Alexis Longtime 38-year-old Angulo at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Bradley said he thought the fight should have been tied for 10 rounds, but the referees gave the home boxer Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) a big win with the scores 98-92, 99-91 and 99-91 .
Boxing fans on social media largely assumed Angulo (27-3, 23 KOs) to win, while those who didn’t consider it a draw.
As for Top Rank, 25-year-old Berlanga is his fourth consecutive lackluster performance after starting his career with 16 straight knockout wins in the first round.
By now, it’s pretty clear Berlanga isn’t the boxer that boxing fans initially thought he was, and they were fooled by the cannon that was given to the New Yorkers to last 16 his first knockout win.
Since being pushed up against the opposition last level in 2021, Berlanga looks terrible in every game.
At this point, Top Rated might want to start thinking about an exit strategy with Berlanga if he doesn’t show improvement soon.
There’s no point in keeping the dead weight in their warrior’s cage if they have a guy who’s not making progress and isn’t likely to win the world title.
In Berlanga’s view, he will probably never progress enough to win a world title unless he is put in the perfect situation facing a paper champion or fighting for the title. Empty belt with a rising ranking opponent.
Berlanga forced to reveal new wrinkles
Tim Bradley said: ‘It looked like Angulo was the aggressor all night, and let Berlanga box with his back foot, using his stroke, his quickness. Fighthype last Saturday the fight between Edgar Berlanga and Alexis Angulo.
“I think it will be a draw, I’ll be honest with you, but I’m not the judge, I don’t judge the war. Berlanga won the war. I don’t think anyone was impressed,” Bradley continued.
“What impressed me was that he [Berlanga] forced to reveal another wrinkle. He’s forced to box, he’s forced to box the best he knows how or guess how he was taught to prepare for this fight.
Bradley said of the 25-year-old Berlanga: “He’s not focused on the shots, he’s got his hands in places, not enough, but in the right positions,” Bradley said of the 25-year-old Berlanga. “I feel he needs to work on his condition.
“I still feel he lacks focus a bit, and he needs to work a little harder. He also needs to go down his body more.
“It’s all about timing. It seems like he doesn’t know when to do the right thing in the positions. He didn’t know when to walk up to that guy, and he didn’t know when someone would lose his balance and attack him,” Bradley said.
Berlanga boxed, but he was backing away, and almost escaped the 38-year-old boxer who was wiped out by then 24-year-old David Benavidez in 2020.
The difference in how Benavidez plays against Angulo and Berlanga is huge. This was a guy Berlanga could have easily handled by staying in his pocket, as Benavidez had done, but he was forced to run away from him instead.
Bradley commented during the fight that if Berlanga was in the pocket with Angulo for the whole match, he thought he would lose.
Bradley says Edgar lacks conditions
Bradley said of Berlanga: “I saw him come out of the corner and he had a clear shot to land a punch, and he didn’t. “Honestly, I think it has to do with the lack of conditioning.
“So if you lack the condition, you will lack it here [brain] because when you’re tired, all you want to do is get out and retreat.
“When you have the energy and the conditions, you know you’re going to go out and you’re going to counterattack. You’ll have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C. So whatever’s going on, you’ll be able to react to it.
“I feel like he goes as far as to show something different,” Bradley said of Berlanga. “We were all complaining, ‘Ah, he’s just a puncher first, no footwork, no this and no that.”
“Yes, he doesn’t have the best forefoot, and no, he doesn’t have the best combinations. He wasn’t the best mover or athlete, but at least he did. He was forced to do it, and he did. I credit him for that.
“Like I said there when filming, I don’t miss, and I can see when a particular guy is going in what direction he’s going based on his fundamentals and what’s going on. he knows and what he knows,” Bradley said.
If that’s mainly the condition Berlanga needs to do, he has some hope, but I’m not sure that’s his real problem.
He looks flawed in every aspect of his game and it will require more than building conditions for him to improve enough to win a world title.
Berlanga’s flaws are mental
“Edgar, I think he has a lot of experience, but What’s wrong with Edgar is mental. It’s all here, man. This might be too much for him,” Bradley said.
“Yes, I think so,” Bradley said when asked if Berlanga’s 16 consecutive first-round knockdowns and all the celebs around him had done anything to him.
“Mark told me he was fueled by that and it filled his ego. I was like, ‘It fills your ego, but what about your skills?’ Looks like his skill set is freezing, and that’s the biggest problem.
“Tonight, we saw a new wrinkle. He boxed a little bit off his hind foot, and I get it, he [Angulo] have been an expert for a very long time.
“Everybody has their due date which is great, but tonight is a small advance over boxing away, but for entertainment value, I don’t think he [Berlanga] absolutely enjoyable,” Bradley said, expressing his disappointment in Berlanga’s performance against 38-year-old Angulo.
