Nom Nom! Edgar Berlanga takes a bite and a win from Roamer Alexis Angulo

Undefeated NABO super middleweight champion Edgar Berlanga kept his 0 and his title against challenger Roamer Alexis Angulo last night in New York City, but the contest wasn’t without controversy.

While the story of the fight involved Angulo getting stifled on the end of Berlanga’s jabs, he did enough on the inside to frustrate Berlanga to the point of biting. Watch this clip from the seventh round of the fight that shows Edgar Berlanga biting — or at least attempting to bite — Roamer Alexis Angulo.

While Angulo clearly reacted to the attempt, the ref didn’t seem to notice in the heat of the moment. Afterward, Berlanga claimed he only considered biting Angulo in response to illegal elbows being thrown by his opponent.

“Nah, ‘cause he was throwing elbows. I was about to do a Mike Tyson on him,” Berlanga said. “He kept throwing his elbows and I didn’t want to get cut, I was ready to bite him like Mike Tyson.”

Berlanga would go on to win the fight 98-92, 99-91, and 99-91 on the judges’ scorecards in what many fans and analysts are calling an uninspired performance. Boxing promoter Lou DiBella took it one step further, calling Berlanga a ‘rabid dog’ that should have been disqualified.

Others like USA Boxing official Alden Chodash are calling on the New York State Athletic Commission to respond to the bite, would-be or not, with fines and a suspension.

Of course there’s others that aren’t taking the situation quite as seriously.

What else can we say? Sometimes these things happen in boxing.