How to react to Edgar Berlanga’s recent message on social media, in which the 168 pounder said he would very much like to “test greatness” by fighting former two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua!? Berlanga – if he’s serious, really serious – wants to step in with Joshua, with the recent Canelo points loser saying he could enter the ring at 210 pounds.
Here’s Berlanga’s message on X in full:
“I would love to go up to heavyweight and fight Anthony Joshua to test greatness. There’s nothing bad about this. I’ll walk in the ring at 210lbs.”
No doubt many fans, perhaps almost all of them, will instantly dismiss this as mere, silly talk from Berlanga. And would Berlanga have written what he’s written if Joshua had not been smashed so violently by Daniel Dubois? Joshua’s stock sure has fallen if a super-middleweight is calling him out, that’s for sure.
But Berlanga is a tall guy at 6’1” – indeed, that’s pretty tall for a 168 pounder. 168 pounder? We must remember how Berlanga entered the ring for the Canelo fight at 193 pounds, and the 27-year-old carried the weight well. Maybe Berlanga can fight effectively at 210 pounds. But against Joshua? Okay, the fight has next to no chance of actually taking place; what would AJ gain from a win over Berlanga, while how utterly cataclysmic would a loss to Berlanga be for AJ!?
It won’t happen, and again, we don’t know how serious Berlanga was, or is, on this matter. Some fans have already had a field day with this one, suggesting that Canelo must have hit Berlanga way harder than we thought was the case on the night. Interestingly, Berlanga is not the first “small guy” to express interest in fighting Joshua. Before he retired, Andre Ward said he felt in all seriousness that he could defeat Joshua.
Of course, that fight never happened, but to this day, some people say Ward was deadly serious about what he said.
Getting back to Berlanga and his next fight will be of big interest to fight fans. Berlanga managed to hang tough with Canelo, and he had some success in a couple of rounds. Maybe Berlanga can go on to become a world champion one day, and perhaps he has the height, reach, and physical density to be able to compete at light-heavyweight, maybe even cruiserweight one day. But heavyweight? Come on.
You have to admire Berlanga’s confidence, though, and his ability to attract attention and make headlines. Don’t you?
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