Edgar Berlanga vs. Steve Rolls: date, time, how to watch, background

Unbeaten super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga is set to face veteran Steve Rolls on Saturday in New York City.

Edgar Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs) vs. Steve Rolls (21-1, 12 KOs)

  • Date: Saturday, March 19

  • Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)

  • Where: Madison Square Garden Theater, New York

  • TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+

  • Cost: ESPN+ is $6.99 per month or $69.99 annually

  • Division: Super middleweight

  • Rounds: 10

  • At stake: No major titles

  • Pound-for-pound ranking: None

  • Odds: Berlanga 10-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)

  • Also on the card: Xander Zayas vs. Quincy LaVallais, junior middleweights; John Bauza vs. Tony Luis, junior welterweights

  • Prediction: Berlanga KO 10

  • Background: Berlanga got off to a remarkable start in his career, stopping his first 16 opponents in the first round, but he has looked human in his last two outings. Demond Nicholson took the 24-year-old New Yorker the eight-round distance in April of last year, although Berlanga won easily. Then, in his first 10-rounder last October, he survived a knockdown in Round 9 to win a unanimous-decision victory over surprisingly stubborn Marcelo Esteban Coceres. Berlanga is ranked No. 6 by the WBO and No. 13 by the WBA, meaning a title shot is on the horizon if he continues to win. Rolls might also test Berlanga. The 37-year-old Canadian is best known for getting blown out in four rounds by Gennadiy Golovkin – his only elite foe – in June 2019 but he’s a well-schooled boxer-puncher who should give Berlanga some resistance. Rolls rebounded from the loss to Triple-G by stopping Gilberto Perez dos Santos in January 2020 and Christopher Brooker this past December.