Edgar Berlanga finally got his statement win back, twelve months after a devastating stoppage loss threatened to derail his career. He got it in dramatic fashion too, surviving an early knockdown to finish Steven Butler in the seventh round. And yet, by the next morning, almost nobody was talking about the win itself.

Zuffa Boxing posted the finish shortly after it happened.

“BERLANGA WINS BY TKO 🤯,” the post read, sharing footage of the final seconds of the seventh round.

That footage is exactly what took over the conversation. Butler surprised the Madison Square Garden crowd early, dropping Berlanga with a clean right hand at the end of the second round. Berlanga answered by abandoning his early boxing approach and going back to what he does best, hunting for power. He dropped Butler himself at the end of round six, and referee Eric Dali was seen speaking with Butler between rounds afterward.

The finish came at 1:14 of round seven. A combination of left hooks and a right cross left Butler badly hurt and unable to defend himself, and Dali stepped in to stop the fight. That’s where things got strange. In the process of intervening, Dali inadvertently dragged Butler down to the canvas with him, leaving both men in a heap. Berlanga then mimed threatening to punch Butler while he was still down and defenseless, a gesture that’s become something of a pattern for him in big moments.

That whole sequence mattered a lot for Berlanga’s career. His previous fight had ended in a fifth-round stoppage loss to Hamzah Sheeraz last July, a result that put real questions around his future. He and then-junior welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins both signed multi-fight deals with Zuffa Boxing on April 8, and Sunday marked both men’s promotional debuts. Hitchins made his own mark in the co-main event, cruising to a shutout unanimous decision over Ricardo Salas, all three judges scoring it 100-90.

None of that context stopped the finish from becoming the story fans wanted to argue about.

Fans question Edgar Berlanga-Steven Butler stoppage after bizarre ending

“What a bad stoppage, and the ref needs a new job,” one fan wrote. Another added, “Bitch-a** ref tackling and Berlanga for talking sh*t like he knocked him out, bro, gtfo.”

While fans can offer their views, the stoppage deserves a closer look. The sequence of the final moments of the fight suggests the referee could be given the benefit of the doubt in the bout. Signaling that the fight needed to be stopped, Dali had raised his right hand. His next move followed the most important duty as a referee – to protect the fighters at all cost.

He stepped in and held Butler while he was still getting punched by Berlanga. The fall likely occurred when Butler, by instinct, backed away from Berlanga’s onslaught. He may not have realized Dali was coming behind him, and the pair tumbled onto the canvas.

Still, the criticisms continued. Another user stated, “What kind of stoppage was that?! Also, the commentating, do you guys tell them in advance who to praise and not acknowledge anything from the other fighter?”

While subjective, the remarks, however, seem to align with the broader criticism surrounding Zuffa’s operational approach and storytelling. Fans often appear to target Max Kellerman for his seemingly over-explainatory ways.

Some fans have made a similar observation about Joe Tessitore being a “company man,” whom they believe frequently pushed the company’s narratives.

A user offered a different take, saying, “Rigged stoppage. Y’all didn’t want 3 decision fights in a row in your main events!!!!” Once again, the comments need a closer review. The co-main fight between Hitchins and Salas that followed the main card bout Jalil Hackett vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko did end in unanimous decisions. They followed the final preliminary bout between Vladyslav Sirenko and Otto Wallin, which ended in a knockout.

But having three consecutive fights go the distance would not, by itself, make the results dubious. Knockouts excite fans, but a fight between evenly matched fighters going the distance should not be considered uncommon either.

A few, meanwhile, seemed to agree with the referee’s decision to stop the fight. “I agree with this stoppage. No word of a lie… the ref actually saved his life from a possible issue if Berlanga kept going,” they said.

In a back-and-forth fight, situations can turn fluid, particularly when one fighter begins to gain control. Such moments invariably make the referee’s job difficult because he must stay alert and ensure the fighter on the receiving end does not absorb unnecessary punishment.

Berlanga’s comeback win stands regardless of how the stoppage is remembered. His next move now depends on who Zuffa Boxing lines up for him following his promotional debut, with Hitchins already positioned as one of the company’s other headline names after his own shutout performance on the same card.