Today, Edgar Berlanga took to social media to express interest in moving to heavyweight to face Anthony Joshua or IBF champion Daniel Dubois. Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) said he will enter the ring at 210 lbs.
Berlanga has one fight left on his Matchroom contract with Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua. If Hearn wants to make Berlanga a solid, he will grant his wish to fight Joshua. It would be a good tune-up fight for AJ to knock Berlanga around the ring in one of the smaller venues.
The 6’1″ Berlanga was rehydrated to 193 lbs for his recent one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14th.
If Berlanga, a native of Brooklyn, New York, is serious about wanting to fight Dubois or Joshua, he should move up to heavyweight and prove that he is for real by fighting one or both of these fighters:
– Martin Cole
– Zhilei Zhang
– Joseph Parker
– Filip Hrgovic
One or two of them might be willing to host Berlanga if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is interested in financing this kind of fight. It would be at the circus level, similar to when Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua fought former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, who had no legitimate business fighting either of them with his lack of experience in the boxed
It is not known if this was Berlanga’s rehydrated weight, but if so, it would not be a problem for him to move up to heavyweight to take on British fighters Joshua or Dubois.
Neither of these heavyweights would be interested in a circus fight against the soundly beaten Berlanga, who looked outmatched against Canelo despite his size advantage against the 5’8″ fighter.
Berlanga needs to prove that he can beat the best fighters in his weight class at 168 because he is 0-1 against the only quality man he has faced during his career. The 27-year-old Berlanga’s resume is weak, filled with lesser guys, none of whom are close to the top tier.
Ideally, Berlanga should take on the likes of Caleb Plant, Jaime Munguia, or Christian Mbilli to show he can beat highly ranked super middleweight contenders. It seems obvious that Berlanga is not serious about his professional career and is only looking to make money in fights, where he lacks talent or experience.
Berlanga would never have had the opportunity to fight Canelo for his three titles because he had never beaten anyone with a name to earn the fight. His best wins were against British fighters Padraig McCrory and Jason Quigley.
I would love to go to heavyweight and fight Anthony Joshua just to prove greatness. Nothing wrong with that. I will go into the ring 210 lbs
— Edgar Berlanga Jr (@EdgarBerlangaJr) September 25, 2024
“In fact, I want to fight Daniel Dubois … Puerto Rico vs. the United Kingdom,” added Berlanga.
