“I was boxing him beautifully the first round. Practically the whole second round till when I got the count,” Berlanga said to YSM Sports Media about Butler. “Right there I lost it. I was tight. I turned this into a street fight because I didn’t like the guy. I didn’t like him at all. I didn’t like his energy. I didn’t like what he was saying. I didn’t like fight week. I just really didn’t like this dude.”
Berlanga says the knockdown came after he lost his balance rather than from a clean punch.
“When I rewatched the video, my foot was a little bit off balance,” he said. “He threw the punch and pushed me at the same time. I wasn’t hurt or nothing. I was fine,” said Berlanga.
“I saw red,” Berlanga said. “I just wanted to hurt this dude. I was pissed the ref jumped in because I wanted to keep punching him.”
He believes his emotions prevented him from delivering the type of performance he originally planned. Berlanga pointed to his 12-round fight with Canelo Alvarez as proof he can remain disciplined when he sticks to his boxing.
“When I fought Canelo, I was sharp for 12 rounds,” Berlanga said. “I know I can do it. I just got to stay disciplined.”
Berlanga said reviewing the fight with his trainer reinforced what went wrong.
“I take accountability on that,” Berlanga said. “I should have remained behind the jab the way I was doing. I was being bad with the jab and staying alert. The knockout would have came super sweet.”
Berlanga’s comments suggest he knows what must change before his next step. A rematch with Hamzah Sheeraz remains a possibility, while Chris Eubank Jr., Caleb Plant and Jaime Munguia have also been mentioned as future opponents.
