The 29-year-old super middleweight contender from Brooklyn bounced back from his stoppage loss to Hamzah Sheeraz last year by stopping Steven Butler in the seventh round at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden on Zuffa Boxing 9.

And he had to overcome some adversity to do it. Berlanga (24-2, 19 KOs) went down in the second round but got up quickly and went to work, hurting Butler (38-6-1, 32) in the third, continually beating him and putting him down in the sixth before finally finishing him off.

Referee Eric Dali stopped the bout to save Butler from further punishment at 1:14 of Round 7.

Berlanga fought cautiously in the opening round, meeting his opponent in the center of the ring but not throwing many punches.

He picked up the pace in the second, boxing well and unloading power shots. However, Butler, firing back, managed to land a shot that put Berlanga on his pants, although he clearly wasn't hurt.

Then Berlanga took over. He hurt Butler with a straight right early in Round 3 and pounded him the rest of the round. Butler survived but continued to take punishment thereafter.

Finally, in the final seconds of Round 6, Berlanga put a weary, beaten Butler on the canvas. And it didn't take him long to finish the job in Round 7, landing a series of hard punches that prompted Dali to say enough is enough.

The victory was a step in the right direction for Berlanga, who has come up short in his two biggest fights, a one-sided decision loss against Canelo Alvarez in 2024 and the Sheeraz setback.

He now hopes to get his hands on some of the division’s bigger names, including Jaime Munguia, Caleb Plant, and a rematch with Sheeraz. Munguia, ranked No. 5 by The Ring, holds the WBA 168-pound title.