Promoter Eddie Hearn Says Edgar Berlanga could return in February for a fight in New York or his father’s home country of Puerto Rico. Hearn hinted at a tune-up for Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) to get him back to his winning ways after losing to unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez last Saturday.
Berlanga may have other plans. In an interview last Saturday, he said he wants to fight for the IBF super middleweight title next and then face Canelo for the undisputed championship next year.
IBF’s Rehydration Limit
If Berlanga goes through with that plan, he will face the winner of the William Scull vs. Vladimir Shishkin fight for the IBF title.
The one obstacle for Berlanga, 27, is the IBF’s 10-lb rehydration limit. Berlanga reportedly rehydrated to 193 lbs last Saturday night for his fight against Canelo.
If Berlanga wanted to fight for the IBF belt, he would need to keep his weight down overnight after the weigh-in to be within the 10-lb limit of 178 lbs. That’s obviously not going to work for Berlanga if he’s going to be rehydrating to the 190s. It would be very difficult for Berlanga to make weight for the IBF’s secondary weigh-in on the morning of the fight.
Berlanga should forget about trying to win the IBF title because if he could make weight for that fight, it doesn’t guarantee that he would win or that Canelo would be interested in a rematch. Hearn didn’t mention wanting Berlanga to fight for the IBF title.
Hearn’s plan appears to be focused on Berlanga taking a tune-up in February and then facing one of these four names:
- Jaime Munguia
- Caleb Plant
- Jermall Charlo
- Diego Pacheco
Of those names, Berlanga would likely be more interested in fighting Munguia because he’s arguably more popular than the others. Jermall used to be a top fighter but has let his career slide by being inactive.
Former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant has a poor record of 2-2 in his last four fights and looked mediocre last Saturday night, getting dropped and hurt multiple times in his fight against fringe contender Trevor McCumby.
“Come back, have a good fight at 168, and then all of those names are available: Munguia, Plant, Pacheco, Charlo.,” said Hearn to IFLTV about his plans for Berlanga in 2025.
Berlanga Needs the Old Formula
If Hearn wants to get the most mileage out of Berlanga’s career to rebuild him as a marketing product to make money, he shouldn’t match him against Pacheco, Charlo, Plant, or Munguia. Berlanga would likely lose to all four of those fighters, and the money that he brings in for his fights would dry up overnight.
Hearn should go back to the formula that got Berlanga this far by matching him against sublevel ham & eggers and ramp him up for another cash-out type of fight. Even with Berlanga’s massive 190+ cruiserweight size, he would likely lose to the four fighters that Hearn wants to fight. Berlanga isn’t good enough to beat those types of fighters.
Given that Berlanga appeared to lose every round of his fight against Canelo, staging his next fight in Puerto Rico, as if he’s coming off a win, would be bizarre.
It would make more sense for Berlanga to return home to New York, where he was born and raised, rather than fighting in his parent’s home country of Puerto Rico, treating his one-sided loss to Canelo like a fake victory. That would be weird.
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