NEW YORK – Edgar Berlanga wasn’t the least bit surprised when the official scores of his fight against Alexis Angulo were read early Sunday morning.

Berlanga believes he thoroughly out-boxed Angulo, who lost by large margins on all three scorecards in a 10-round main event ESPN televised from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. Judges Ken Ezzo (99-91) and Don Trella (99-91) scored nine rounds apiece for Brooklyn’s Berlanga, whereas judge Bernard Bruni credited Berlanga for winning eight rounds (98-92).

“I knew it was a landslide,” Berlanga told a group of reporters. “You know, he couldn’t mess with me. My skills was too up there. And plus, my power, you know, I know he was hesitant a lot to come in, you know, to throw those wild shots like he did on [Anthony] Sims. You know, Sims boxed the same way, but he didn’t throw no punches and Sims didn’t land. You know, I boxed and I landed good, hard shots, so I know he respected my power.”

The 25-year-old Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) used his jab well at times and landed various power punches when he chose to attack Angulo. He fought off his back foot more often than not, however, and the older, slower Angulo connected with his fair share of solid shots, which sometimes made Berlanga hold him.

CompuBox’s unofficial statistics indicated that their fight was closer than the judges saw it.

Berlanga’s overall advantage according to CompuBox’s count was thanks to his jab. He landed 38 more jabs (50-of-261 to 12-of-123), while the aggressive Angulo was credited for connecting with more power punches (67-of-231 to 58-of-162).

CompuBox’s final tally showed that Angulo landed more punches in five of 10 rounds. Berlanga connected with more shots in four rounds, according to CompuBox, and they landed seven punches apiece in the eighth round.

“I just showed my real boxing skills and my jab,” Berlanga said. “You know, everybody was talking crap about my jab, and I felt like I boxed good. You know, I got hit with a couple shots I shouldn’t have got caught with. But, you know, we weathered the storm and I just kept boxing. I really showed my boxing skills tonight.”

The 38-year-old Angulo has been stopped only by former WBC super middleweight champ David Benavidez in 11 years as a pro. Phoenix’s Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) defeated Angulo by technical knockout following 10 one-sided rounds in August 2020 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Berlanga hoped to stop Angulo sooner than Benavidez, but he never felt that Angulo (27-3, 23 KOs) was hurt enough to finish off the Colombian contender.

“I did hurt him, but I knew he wasn’t hurt where I could take him out,” said Berlanga, who went the distance in a fourth straight fight. “You know, I knew he was hurt. I stunned him a couple times, you know, but I just didn’t wanna fall for no traps because I know he’s a veteran. And I know he’s a rugged fighter. You know, he’s gonna come forward, he’s gonna keep swinging and fighting, so I just stuck to the game plan.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.