Edgar Berlanga’s ring return is being discussed for March 2025 in Puerto Rico. The 39-year-old journeyman Gabriel Rosado (26-17-1, 15 KOs) is being mentioned as a strong possibility for Berlanga to help him get back to winning.
Berlanga can’t afford to trip up in front of his Puerto Rican fans, who praised him after his loss to Canelo Alvarez on September 14th. They’ll accept a loss to Canelo, but probably not against Rosado. That would be going too far.
Edgar Berlanga Worshipped In Defeat
The Brooklyn, New York native, Berlanga, who identifies with his parent’s original home country, traveled around in the back of a truck in Puerto Rico after his loss, being followed by a long line of fans who treated him like a superstar in defeat. To be sure, it was odd, but it showed how the fans are looking for a replacement for Miguel Cotto.
Why would they follow around Berlanga after a lopsided loss? I still don’t understand it. He fought poorly against Canelo and had done nothing with his career before being blessed with that title shot.
Rosado isn’t that far off from Berlanga in terms of talent. If Rosado had fought the 22 tomato cans that Berlanga fought to get his wins, he’d have beaten all of them and would have the same record.
The Philadelphia-born Rosado turns 39 on January 13th and hasn’t won a fight in three years since his upset third-round knockout win over Bektemir Melikuziev on June 19, 2021. Rosado has lost his last four fights since. That probably won’t keep Berlanga from fighting him because he fits in perfectly with the fighters he’s beaten in the past to build his record.
Top Rank and Matchroom did a great job of steering Berlanga to a 22-0 record before Canelo Alvarez exposed him. It’s a shame that Berlanga didn’t have to fight at least one good opponent like David Benavidez or David Morrell to get his title shot against Canelo.
Berlanga (22-, 17 KOs) lost a 12-round unanimous decision to WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14th in Las Vegas. Canelo won by the scores 118-109, 117-110, and 118-109.
Berlanga received a purse between $1-3 million for the fight, with another 20% from the PPV money. So, he’ll be a millionaire in his next fight in March, and there will not be too much pressure on him if he’s matched against Rosado.
It was a one-sided fight for the most part, but Berlanga used his 193-lb massive frame to walk down the smaller Canelo to land some nice shots in a losing effort.
Fans criticized Berlanga for fighting to survive and being afraid to let his hands go for fear of being knocked out. This was a cowardly way of fighting, but it made sense.
By going the distance, Berlanga could brag about going 12 rounds afterward, and he still has options for nice paydays against Jaime Munguia, William Scull, and Diego Pacheco. Berlanga wouldn’t have those options if Canelo had knocked him out.
“I’m told they’re thinking about Edgar Berlanga Jr’s return in March 2025 in Puerto Rico. Nothing has been decided yet about the opponent for the Super Middleweight contender,” said Salvador Rodriguez on X.
Edgar’s Path to Canelo Rematch
Berlanga has already mapped out a path to a rematch with Canelo, saying he wants to defeat Jaime Munguia or capture the IBF title, and then use those one of those two wins to get a quick second fight.
It sounds deluded, but you can understand why Berlanga would want a second fight with the Mexican star because he won’t make that kind of money fighting anyone else. Moreover, Berlanga’s career will be over quickly once he starts facing talented contenders like Diego Pacheco, Osleys Iglesias, and Christian Mbilli. He’s not beating any of those guys ever.
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