Berlanga Gets “Golden Ticket” In Canelo Fight, But Critics Question His Worthiness

Promoter Eddie Hearn says his fighter, Edgar Berlanga, got the “golden ticket” with his deal to challenge superstar Canelo Alvarez for his WBA, WBC, and WBO super-middleweight titles on September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Hearn’s Promise Fulfilled, But at What Cost?

Hearn has quickly delivered a fight for the still unproven WBA #1 ranked Berlanga (22-0, 14 KOs) after just two fights with his Matchroom promotional company against Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory.

Berlanga easily beat them both to earn the #1 spot as Canelo’s WBA mandatory. Berlanga was WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell’s mandatory initially. For obvious reasons concerning his low chances of winning, Berlanga passed up the fight with Morrell and waited for Hearn to deliver him the Canelo fight.

“We delivered our promises to Edgar Berlanga, but not actually in the circumstances that I would have expected,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about his getting Edgar Berlanga a mega-payday fight against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14th.

Hearn doesn’t say whether he’ll re-sign Berlanga after his contract with Matchroom expires after the Canelo fight. If Berlanga loses badly to Canelo, will he still be useful for Hearn as a B-side opponent for some of the talented super middleweights, like Diego Pacheco and Christian Mbilli.

Berlanga’s Limited Resume

It’s hard to imagine Hearn wanting to keep Berlanga after the Canelo fight because he will have fulfilled his purpose. Berlanga was never matched against anyone talented for him to build his 22-0 record. If Hearn suddenly put him in with talented opposition, the outcome might not be pretty for the Puerto Rican fighter.

“I would expect us to be representing Canelo and doing a deal for him to fight Berlanga,” said Hearn. “We did even better than that. We did a deal with PBC for the fight, but we delivered our promises to Edgar Berlanga. We said, ‘Two fights [Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory], maybe three, and you can fight Canelo Alvarez,’ and we done it.”

Hearn got Berlanga a fight against Canelo, and he didn’t even have to match him against a good fighter to get him that. That’s the main reason why there’s such a huge backlash about this fight:

Berlanga hasn’t fought the type of opposition to rate the fight against Canelo. Berlanga’s opposition has been awful, and he’s viewed as a protected fighter with a flimsy record for cash-out purposes, which he’s now fulfilled for Hearn.

Berlanga’s recent wins:

– Padraig McCory
– Jason Quigley
– Marcelo Coceres
– Roamer Alexis Angulo
– Demond Nicholson
– Steve Rolls

“I love the fight because I know what Edgar is all about,” said Hearn. “He’s a strong 168-pounder, very aggressive, who punches very hard, and he will do everything in that ring. He’ll give his absolute soul to try and beat Canelo Alvarez. I’ll be on Edgar Berlanga’s side, but also, I can’t lie about my fondness of Canelo Alvarez.”

Given that Berlanga was knocked down and badly hurt by Marcelo Coceres, the chances of him being competitive with Canelo are quite slim on September 14th unless the Mexican star on the slide. Canelo isn’t the fighter that he once was, as we saw in his last fight against Jaime Munguia last May, but Berlanga is still an easy mark for him and for any of the top five super middleweights.

Golden Ticket or Cash-Out Opportunity?

“I think he’s an incredible fighter and I think he’s a great guy, but we got the golden ticket to the Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” said a gloating Hearn. “We won the lottery because everyone is queuing up for a pick. We liked our spot from the start with the [WBA 168-lb] mandatory challenger, an undefeated Puerto Rican fighter; we felt we’d get the fight.”

In a perfect world, Berlanga would have had to fight David Morrell or David Benavidez to earn the Canelo fight instead of McCrory and Quigley. Berlanga should have had to fight Morrell first, but he would have never beaten that talent.

“We got it and got the right deal. We’re grateful to PBC, and Edgar will give it everything in a massive fight,” said Hearn about his fighter, Berlanga, getting the Canelo Alvarez fight on September 14th.