Edgar Berlanga seemed to be reveling today about finally being a free agent after his four-fight contract with Matchroom ended last Saturday night. He might be out of touch with reality, thinking that promoters will want to sign him based on his 23 wins over tomato cans.
Free at Last
The former super middleweight world title challenger Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) believes there will be a mad rush by the promoters and networks, which will lead to him getting “that big bag” and making untold riches. He got the Canelo Alvarez fight and made $12 million with Matchroom despite never beating any top-level fighters. Eddie Hearn did a great job for Berlanga, and he didn’t have to beat one quality guy to get that money.
He made his money from being popular in the New York area rather than by beating any of the killers at 168. You can’t call Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz, Jason Quigley, or Padraig McCrory killers. Those lesser fighters wouldn’t last a round against the best contenders like Diego Pacheco and Osleys Iglesias at super middleweight.
Who Pays Up?
Promoter Eddie Hearn wants to continue working with Berlanga and setting him up with a fight against Caleb Plant. However, he might go with them if Turki Alalshikh’s new boxing league is interested in signing Berlanga. Dana White said the fighters in the new league will lose fights like they do in the UFC. If Berlanga can even make weight for fights at 168, he’ll lose repeatedly if he’s matched against the best fighters in the division.
So, maybe they would be the perfect landing spot for Berlanga, who will lose a lot if Dana is going to practice what he preaches about ‘the best fighting the best.’ It’ll come down to money, though, because Edgar is going to likely expect the same kind of dough he got from his fight with Canelo.
It would have to be a promoter who is willing to lose money on his fights because if he’s getting $10 million to fight guys like Jermall Charlo, Caleb Plant, or Jaime Munguia, the events will likely hemorrhage money. Those guys aren’t popular enough to bring in the PPV buys against Berlanga, and he doesn’t have enough fans in the New York area to bring in the numbers to make a fight profitable if he’s getting huge money.
“If you want to knock him, you can say that he should have come back with something a little better,” said Teddy Atlas on his YouTube channel that Edgar Berlanga should have fought a better fighter in his comeback fight rather than Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz.
“He came back, he got rid of this guy, and now he’s got to fight something better. Either fight someone a lot better or go and fight a big fight. That’s what we want now. You went in there with Canelo, and showed that you’re not that level. Now, we want a big, big [fight]. What’s the big fight? Plant? One of those guys.”
Damn I’m really a free agent 😌😌
— Edgar Berlanga Jr (@EdgarBerlangaJr) March 18, 2025
Last Updated on 03/18/2025
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