Edgar Berlanga’s Main Event Demand: “I’m Too Much of a Star”

Edgar Berlanga says he told Turki Alalshikh that he wouldn’t agree to being in the co-feature for the July 12th card at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

Berlanga’s Main Event Demand

Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) states that he told Turki, “I’m too much of a star,” and he wouldn’t agree to be chief support even if Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol, and David Benavidez were on the card. He’d still expect to be in the headliner. In other words, Berlanga wouldn’t be on the card with that wacky demand.

Edgar faces Hamzah Sheeraz in the main event on Saturday night in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator. The event will be shown on DAZN PPV.

Berlanga vs. Sheeraz: Ticket Sales

The New Yorkers love this matchup so much that there are tons of unsold tickets for the events, which suggests that Turki should have placed Berlanga deep on the undercard because fans are not excited about his matchup against Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs).

“New York is my city. The first thing I told Turki, ‘Yo, if I’m fighting on your card in New York, I don’t give a f*** if it’s Benavidez, Bivol, or Beterbiev. They’re not going to be on top of me in my city. Not right now, not at all. I’m too much of a star to be co-main event in New York,” said Edgar Berlanga to the Breakfast Club Power about what he told Turki Alalshikh about insisting that he be the main event on the July 12th card.

Berlanga is kidding himself if he actually believes he could order Turki to make him the main event if Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, or David Benavidez were on a card in New York with him. Berlanga would be the undercard fighters because he’s not acchieved anything in his career other than beating 23 tomato cans and losing badly to Canelo Alvarez when he finally stepped up to world-class level.

Turki would laugh Berlanga out of the room if he tried to insist that he be above Beterbiev, Bivol, and Benavidez on any of his cards, because it would be crazy for him to do this. He’s even made a mistake placing Berlanga in the headliner for his fight against Hamzah Sheeraz. The numerous available tickets for the Louis Armstrong Stadium are a clear signal that the limited number of fans Edgar has in New York weren’t willing to come out and show support.

Shakur Stevenson’s Treatment

“I said to Shakur, ‘Yo, if Turki said you’re fighting at the Prudential, in Newark, New Jersey, I’m putting Shakur in the main event.’ I would have said, ‘Cool, that’s my brother. You have to respect that. New Jersey is your s***t.’ I said, ‘Respectfully, New York is my s***. Nobody is going to go over me in New York.’ He was more uptight about how they were treating him.

“I said, ‘It’s a double main event. So, it really doesn’t matter. They’re treating us as a double main event and giving us the same privileges.’ The only difference is, I’m walking out last,” said Berlanga.

It does make a difference to Shakur because he’s seen by fans as being given undercard treatment again by Turki Alalshikh. This comes after he talked about no longer wanting to see Tom and Jerry fights, and he shrank the ring to 18 x 18. The remark was seen by fans as being directed toward Stevenson. He’s even being referred to as “Jerry” by some fans, and that’s a nickname that could be reinforced if he runs from Zepeda on Saturday.