Edgar Berlanga is continuing to campaign to be the next opponent for undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez to face.
With zero notable wins on his eight-year professional resume, Berlanga is pushing the Mexico vs. Puerto angle as the key selling point on why Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) should choose to fight him next.
The Resume Question
It’s not the ideal way to campaign for a fight, but that’s the only thing Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) has going for him because his resume is filled with lesser opposition.
When Berlanga left Top Rank, it was thought that his new promoter, Eddie Hearn, would match him against good opposition so he could earn the fight against Canelo.
Dubious ‘Superstar’ Status
Instead of doing that, Hearn has given Berlanga two warm-up-level fights against Padraig McCrory and Jason Quigley. He now feels he’s done enough to rate a world title shot against Canelo, and Berlanga is even calling himself a “superstar.”
That’s bizarre because unless we’ve really lowered the bar for what it takes to be a superstar these days, Berlanga is nowhere near that. Trainer Stephen Edwards says Berlanga is still at the “prospect” stage and is not a superstar.
Edwards doesn’t see how Berlanga was given the #1 ranking with the WBA because he hasn’t beaten anyone to be given that high ranking. His best wins are against the lesser fighters:
Padraig McCrory
Jason Quigley
Marcelo Esteban Conceres
Steve Rolls: 40
Roamer Alexis Angulo: 40
Demond Nicholson
Berlanga could have earned a fight against Canelo if he’d fought David Morrell or Caleb Plant, but he’s not shown interest in fighting those guys. He only wants the Canelo fight, and some fans believe Berlanga just wants the payday without earning it.
The Nationalistic Sell
“It’s Mexico vs. Puerto Rico. I’m the biggest thing coming out of Puerto Rico,” said the Brooklyn, New York-born Edgar Berlanga to Dan Rafael’s Substack site. “I sell tickets. I got the celebrities behind me. I got the whole world.
“Not just the Puerto Ricans. I’m booming on the Internet. The Mexican fans are loving me. People want this fight,” said Berlanga about his belief that fans want to see him and Canelo Alvarez fight.
“A lot of people can’t go on social media, but y’all see the kind of love I’m getting in Vegas. That whole week me being out there. People want this fight,” said Berlanga about him attending the weigh-in and the fight last week for Canelo’s title defense against Jaime Munguia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“This fight is going to sell. This fight is going to go down in history in the sport of boxing. You’ve got Mexico vs. Puerto Rico. You got to a superstar Mexican fighter [Canelo], and you got a superstar Puerto Rican [Berlanga] fighter.
The Title Blockade
“It’s about if you can fight and you can sell tickets. I couldn’t fight for a title for the last three years because that’s how long he’s [Canelo] been holding them,’ said Berlangta about Canelo holding all four titles at super middleweight.
What Berlanga isn’t saying is he could have fought for a world title against WBA ‘regular’ 168-lb champion David Morrell Jr. because he was his mandatory, but he chose not to fight him.
So when Berlanga says he couldn’t fight for a world title, he’s being slightly disingenuous because he could have fought Morrell, which would have given him a valuable belt to use to increase his chances for a fight against Canelo.
Of course, if Morrell beat Berlanga, he’d be nowhere. Hence, Berlanga chose not to fight Morrell, which some fans feel was a sign that he lacked confidence in himself.
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