Edgar Berlanga Survives Knockdown, Stops Butler in Zuffa Debut

Edgar Berlanga made his Zuffa debut messier than planned, hitting the canvas in the second round against Steven Butler before recovering to force a stoppage in the seventh. It was a win, but not the tidy statement Berlanga wanted for his new promotional home.

Berlanga brushed off the knockdown afterward, calling it a good hook and insisting he shook it off and got straight back to work. He also gave Butler his due, noting the Canadian has never been flattened cleanly in his career, with referees stepping in to save him. That, Berlanga said, is exactly why he didn't floor the gas once he had Butler hurt late.

The Wishlist

The interesting part came when Berlanga started naming names. Top of his list is Chris Eubank Jr., a fight he's been chasing for a while and one he wants staged in London in November or December. He framed it as a genuine event, and it's the kind of crossover attraction that would dwarf anything on his current résumé.

If Eubank isn't available, Berlanga pointed to Jaime Munguia as a Mexico versus Puerto Rico natural. On paper that's a real fight: Munguia is 46-2 (35 KO), ranked #5 at 168, and coming off a unanimous decision over Armando Reséndiz. Berlanga also floated Caleb Plant, whose retirement status he wasn't sure about, and Jermall Charlo. Plant, for the record, is 23-3 (14 KO) and last seen losing a split decision to Reséndiz — the same man Munguia beat.

Why the Title Talk Matters

The fight Berlanga really wants is Hamzah Sheeraz, and he laid out a specific route to get there. Rather than face Sheeraz now, he wants to win a belt first — from Munguia or one of the others — so that a Sheeraz meeting becomes a unification. Sheeraz currently holds the WBO strap at 23-0-1 (19 KO), riding a second-round knockout of Alem Begic.

It's a sensible pitch, if an ambitious one. Berlanga is chasing the biggest names in the division while still working out kinks in his own game — a night where you get dropped by a career gatekeeper isn't the ideal launchpad for a champion-hunting run. But the win keeps his options open, and the calendar he sketched out gives the super middleweight division plenty to sort through before year's end.