Edgar Berlanga says he’s not just taking the fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez for the big-money million+ payday he’ll be getting for their headliner on September 14th.
He says he’s taking it for his “legacy” because he wants to be in Canelo’s position someday as the huge star in the sport.
Legacy Over Money?
Fans feel that Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) is just there for the payday because if he cared about his legacy, he would have fought better opposition to get to this point.
When the best name on your resume is Jason Quigley, that’s a sign that getting “that bag” from Canelo is more important than your legacy. Berlanga could have already fought these fighters if he truly cared about his legacy:
- David Morrell: Berlanga was Morrell’s WBA mandatory, and chose not to fight him
- Caleb Plant: The former IBF super middleweight champion Plant called out Berlanga, but he didn’t want it. Too risky?
- David Benavidez: Never showed interest.
- Jaime Munguia
- Christian Mbilli
- Diego Pacheco
“I got Puerto Rico behind me, and I also got the hip-hop culture. That’s why I say I got the best of both worlds,” said Edgar Berlanga to the Million Dollars Worth of Game YouTube channel about his following going into his fight against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14th.
Berlanga says he’s got Puerto Rico behind him, but he’s from New Yorker. So, it might be wishful thinking on Berlanga’s part to say he’s got that country behind him. He’s not Miguel Cotto or Felix Trinidad, fighters from Puerto Rico who accomplished a lot in the sport by the time they were Berlanga’s age at 27.
“I like having an island behind me, having the haters talking, and having New York behind me. That’s something I dreamed of, and I got it. The money is cool, but I’m big on legacy. My biggest fear is losing,” said Berlanga about him not just coming on September 14th to get a payday.
If money isn’t Berlanga’s priority, we’ll see what opposition he faces after his match against Canelo next month. Berlanga should have already been fighting top-level fighters at his age, especially since he said he’d been in the sport for 20 years since he was seven.
I get the impression that if Berlanga loses to Canelo, he’ll resume fighting the same level of opposition he’d been fighting and look back his way into another payday against him by fighting soft jobs.
“That’s why I hate these people that say, ‘Payday.’ I’m not a crab. I’m not someone that chases money,” said Berlanga, who turned down a fight against WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell earlier this year to wait for the bigger payday against Canelo.
People who say that Berlanga is just out for money are basing that view on his weak resume and the fact that he chose not to fight guys like Plant, Morrell, Benavidez, and Munguia when he could have.
“He gave me the opportunity and I worked hard for this. The bag is there on September 14th,” said Berlanga about him supposedly working hard for the Canelo fight. “It’s [the payday] there already. Now, it’s about stamping my name into boxing. I’m trying to get to where he’s at. It’s not physical with this fight. It’s mental. It’s intelligence, and that’s what’s going to make the difference.”
Berlang’s best opposition is these fighters:
– Jason Quigley
– Steve Rolls: 40
– Roamer Alexis Angulo: 40
– Marcelo Esteban Concernes
– Padraig McCrory
– Demond Nicholson
“Everyone keeps talking about the power. ‘You’re big.’ It’s cool. He’s strong, too. He can punch, too, but it’s about the mentality, the IQ. That’s what it is for September 14th,” said Berlanga
Edgar isn’t known for being intelligent, and he sounds out of touch with reality when he sees himself as matching Canelo in the mental side of the sport.
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