⚑ Blotter Flag · Narrative Spine
The Blotter called Berlanga to win by unanimous decision on the theory he was the steadier operator at 168 — instead he hit the deck in round two, and it took a comeback, not a boxing clinic, to get him to the same result by stoppage in round seven.
Berlanga Answers the Chin Question About Himself, Not Just Butler
A two-fight losing streak, one of them a first-ever stoppage, needed a clean rebound — instead Berlanga got dropped again before his power finally broke Steven Butler down in the seventh.
Berlanga opened patient, working behind the jab and keeping the fight at range exactly as the pre-fight Read flagged as the condition for the pick to hold. It didn't last. In the closing seconds of round two, a partially blocked Butler right hand — one that didn't even land clean — put Berlanga on the canvas for the first time since the Sheeraz fight a year earlier. He beat the count and made it to his corner, but the chin question the program raised about Butler's opposition had, in that instant, become a live question about Berlanga instead.
The turning point came fast. Berlanga abandoned the boxing plan in round three and went to the power game that's always been his identity, hurting Butler with a straight right early and pounding him for the rest of the round — Butler even resorted to an MMA-style takedown attempt trying to survive the pressure. Berlanga kept the heavier, cleaner work through rounds four and five, and all three judges had him ahead 57-55, 58-54, and 57-55 through six. He closed round six with a barrage of right hands that put Butler down for a 10-8 round.
Butler answered with one more big right hand to start round seven, showing the same durability that had carried him through four straight wins — but it was the last real resistance he offered. Berlanga landed a pair of left hooks that wobbled him badly, and referee Eric Dali stepped in at 1:14 to wave it off, then accidentally tackled Butler into the ropes on the way to stopping it. Berlanga cocked his right hand and stood over a downed Butler before showing mercy. "It's a learning experience, and it just shows that I'm a true champion," he said after.
Round 6 · Closing Seconds
Berlanga, still fighting off the memory of the round-two knockdown, lands a full combination of right hands that finally buckles Butler and puts him on a knee in the center of the ring — the moment the fight stopped being competitive and started being a countdown.
Edgar BerlangaExceeded
The call was a moderate-confidence decision win. He delivered something more valuable — proof he can absorb real adversity (a second knockdown in as many fights) and still find a finish, which the ledger alone doesn't show.
Steven ButlerDelivered
The program flagged his chin as untested against a real puncher and unresolved since 2023. It stayed unresolved — his sixth loss is his sixth by stoppage — but he also produced the best moment of the fight, proving his power travels further than his recent opposition suggested.
Richardson HitchinsExceeded
The call was a unanimous decision win. He delivered a total shutout, 100-90 on all three cards, answering the welterweight-debut ceiling question about as definitively as one fight can.
Official Scorecards & Ringside Reporting · Dashes Mark Segments With No Published Split — Not Zeros
| Segment | Berlanga | Butler |
|---|
| Judge 1 (through Rd. 6) | 57 | 55 |
| Judge 2 (through Rd. 6) | 58 | 54 |
| Judge 3 (through Rd. 6) | 57 | 55 |
| Knockdowns | 1 (Rd. 6, 10-8 round) | 1 (Rd. 2, late) |
| Round 7 (finish) | TKO win, 1:14 | — |
No official CompuBox punch-count data was published for this bout. Scorecards and stoppage detail sourced from ringside reporting (BoxingScene, Sky Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports).
Card-Wide Results · Blotter Call vs. Result
Hitchins vs. Salas · Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden
Called (Hitchins UD) — hit, and by more than projected. A total shutout on all three cards; Salas's power was never a factor. Hitchins said afterward he'd hurt his right hand, which is the only reason this wasn't a stoppage. The welterweight-debut ceiling question got about as clean an answer as one fight can give.
Called (Derevyanchenko UD) — miss. The pedigree didn't hold up against Hackett's jab and 17-year age edge; Hackett opened cuts around both of Derevyanchenko's eyes and did enough over the championship rounds despite getting staggered in the tenth. A career-best win for the 23-year-old, and a data point on the 40-year-old veteran's declining trajectory.
Called (Wallin UD) — miss, and in dramatic fashion. Sirenko was actually trailing on all three scorecards (90-81, 89-82, 88-83) before landing a right-left combination with one second left in the fight to knock Wallin out cold. The live-upset-alert flag on this one proved correct even though the pick didn't.
No formal call was made — even-money analytical case on both sides. Moreno's jab and range settled it; Gonzalez's better record on paper didn't translate.
No formal call was made — insufficient professional-level data on both sides. The all-knockout showcase didn't produce one; Davis's power simply translated better over eight rounds.
Called (Nash Decision) — hit. The lopsided betting line held up, though one judge somehow scored it even; the other two saw it clearly for Nash.
Called (Francis Decision) — miss. Sosa's extra rounds and experience were exactly the difference flagged pre-fight; Francis's unbeaten record didn't survive the step up.
Blueprint Accuracy Report · Volume 29
Story First Blueprint v6.1 · Accuracy Audit · Call Standard: Winner + Method
6 calls made · 3 winners correct · 1 method miss
No fabricated stats · All featured fighters accounted for
| Fight |
Blotter Call |
Result |
Verdict |
| Berlanga vs. Butler |
Berlanga, Unanimous Decision |
Berlanga, TKO Round 7 |
MISS |
| Hitchins vs. Salas |
Hitchins, Unanimous Decision |
Hitchins, UD (100-90 x3) |
HIT |
| Derevyanchenko vs. Hackett |
Derevyanchenko, Unanimous Decision |
Hackett, Unanimous Decision |
MISS |
| Wallin vs. Sirenko |
Wallin, Unanimous Decision |
Sirenko, KO Round 10 |
MISS |
| Nash vs. Perez |
Nash, Decision |
Nash, Majority Decision |
HIT |
| Francis vs. Sosa |
Francis, Decision |
Sosa, Unanimous Decision |
MISS |
The main event call cost a point even on a correct winner — Berlanga was picked to win by decision and won by stoppage instead, which is a miss under the winner-plus-method standard regardless of the right name at the top. The bigger issue is the undercard: three of the four wrong calls came on fights carrying the thinnest data going in (a 40-year-old veteran on a long slide, a durable but limited puncher, an unbeaten prospect facing a live underdog) — a pattern worth remembering the next time thin opposition is inflating a record on paper.
Edgar Berlanga
The Chin Question Is Answered — Now It's About the Names
Getting off the floor to finish a durable opponent settles the immediate concern coming out of the Sheeraz knockdown streak. Berlanga called out Jaime Munguia, Jermall Charlo, Chris Eubank Jr., Caleb Plant, and a Sheeraz rematch after the fight — the next step is whether Zuffa Boxing can actually land one of those names rather than another opportunity-level opponent.
Richardson Hitchins
Welterweight Debut Answered Every Question It Could
A 100-90 shutout in a naturally bigger weight class is about as clean an argument as a first fight at 147 can make. He's already ranked WBA-5 and IBF-3 there; the matchmaking calculus his camp described pre-fight — a calculated step before a title shot within 12 months — looks more credible today than it did going in.
Sergiy Derevyanchenko
The Résumé Still Reads Elite. The Recent Record Doesn't.
He's lost seven of his last eleven going back to 2018 and turns 41 in October, but he stayed competitive enough to stagger the younger, faster Hackett in the tenth. The gap between what his name still means and what his recent form actually is keeps widening.
