Promoter Eddie Hearn wasted little time pushing for a world title shot for super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga 22-0 (17) following his sixth-round knockout victory over Padraig McCrory 18-1 (9) at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida on Saturday night.
The Matchroom Boxing boss even went as far as to say a fight against undisputed 168-pound champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39) was inevitable.
“It’s only a matter of time,” Hearn said. “Puerto Rico against Mexico — that will be a huge event — Edgar Berlanga against Canelo Alvarez. And listen, maybe there is one more [fight for Berlanga before facing Alvarez], but I’ll tell you now… if the call came, he wouldn’t back down.”
He added: “[Berlanga] wouldn’t run around the ring to try to survive for 12 rounds. He’d stand and fight with Canelo Alvarez. He’d give the fans a great, great fight and that’s what people want to see.”
Berlanga says he wants the fight too.
“Boxing needs that,” the 26-year-old Brooklynite said. “They need a Puerto Rican star versus a Mexican star. That’s what boxing needs. That would be the biggest fight of this year.”
Berlanga’s trainer Marc Ferrait said that while he would prefer to give his fighter more time to develop, he wouldn’t knock back to opportunity to but his charge in with the 33-year-old Mexican superstar.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t think anyone’s ready for Canelo,” Ferrait told ProBox TV. “Let’s just call a spade a spade. We heard a lot from [Jermell] Charlo, right? ‘I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that.’ He got in the ring; it all became real. There was nothing done. I tell you right now, you’re going to get a better fight with Edgar.
“Edgar has a lot to develop. He still has a lot to develop.
“All those boxing experts can say, ‘He’s not that guy that Canelo should fight’, so I want to be honest. You’ve got monsters in that division. You’ve got Benavidez. You’ve got one guy there that I love his style, and people are staying away from, which is [David] Morrell. Jaime Munguia looked great against Ryder. You can go on and on…
“You’ve got monsters, and it just so happens that the dominos might fall Edgar’s way.
“I don’t think there’s one fighter that would turn that down. Do you know why? Because you’re a prizefighter.
“[Alvarez] doesn’t want to fight Benavidez. It shouldn’t be Edgar’s fault that he chooses Edgar. Edgar just threw his hat in the ring like everybody else.”
He added that Berlanga came through the McCrory fight virtually unscathed.
“He’s fine. They gave him one stitch, so he’s fine. That was on a head butt,” Ferrait said.
“He didn’t take much punishment at all. He did a lot of good things; he landed some good shots.”
