Popular super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga will be back inside the ring after a year’s absence to face Ireland’s Jason Quigley on DAZN in a fight that his promoter Eddie Hearn hopes will be an impressive one at Madison Square Garden in New York.
#3 IBF, #5 WBO & #11 WBC Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) has a slight chance of earning a fight against Canelo Alvarez if he looks especially sharp against Quigley (20-2, 14 KOs). That’s likely going to require a knockout in the early rounds, as the one Demetrius Andrade produced in 2021 when he stopped Jason in round two.
The highly sought-after former Top Rank fighter Berlanga, 26, chose to sign with Hearn’ss Matchroom Boxing, feeling that this was the right fit for him. Hearn is hoping that he can guide Berlanga to a world title and put him in with Canelo.
More than likely, Berlanga will need an additional two wins to earn the Canelo fight. Hearn says he’d like to match him against Jaime Munguia, John Ryder, or Gennadiy Golovkin. Those are going to b tough ones for Berlanga if Hearn can get him some of those guys.
Berlanga needs statement win
“Edgar Berlanga said this is my town, you know, and he’s got a massive crowd coming on Saturday night. The atmosphere is going to be unbelievable,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing about Edger Berlanga’s fight with Jason Quigley on Saturday.
“I guess quite similar in terms of Katie Taylor against Amanda Serrano. Ireland against Puerto Rico because the Irish are going to be drowned out on Saturday but still going to be there in their numbers, and it’s a massive fight for Edgar Berlanga and Jason Quigley.
“Of course, with Edgar Berlanga, we’re building him up as one of our big stars. He could go on and fight Canelo Alvarez, but Jason’s going to give him a big test on Saturday. We’re going to see what he’s made of.
“If you want to start making statements that you want to go on and fight Canelo Alvarez, you need to be going in and making a statement against Jason Quigley.
“He’s been out of the ring for over a year, and there’s all this pressure on him,” Hearn said about Berlanga. “He has a big fan base and loads of media here this week. So you know Jason Quigley is coming to fight.
“You’re talking about a world-ranked fighter, a very talented fighter who’s very, very tough and the toughest test of Edgar Berlanga’s career. So let’s see if the hype is real on Saturday night.
“Firstly, once that fight becomes big enough, it happens, and you know, I guess the best way to do that is to make statements and earn your shot,” said Hearn when asked what Berlanga must do to fight against Canelo Alvarez.
“For me, he needs two more fights. Whether that’s Jason Quigley and then maybe Munguia or Golovkin or Ryder or Billy Joe Saunders, and then you can start calling out Canelo. But timing is everything, you know?
“If he [Berlanga] produces a knockout of the year on Saturday and stands on the turnbuckle and starts screaming Canelo Alvarez’s name, that Puerto Rican against Mexico rivalry can escalate real quickly.
“But you’re probably going to see him have two fights first, and this is a good World championship test, and now we want to see him after that go through a top-five guy and then scream even louder for Canelo Alvarez,” Hearn said.
Is Berlanga destined for superstardom?
“Sometimes these guys that you sign haven’t been promoted correctly on the way up,” Hearn said about Berlanga wanting to get off the leash. “So we’ve got a little bit of work to do.
“Listen, Edgar is a superstar. Everybody knows him in New York. The tickets are going like hotcakes. It’s going to be an atmosphere that you’ll savor in there on Saturday night, but he’s got to back it up with a performance in a ring.
“If he can do that with his personality and his fan base, the kid’s going to be a superstar. Yeah, you know, he’s cool. The younger generation loves him. He’s got Puerto Rico behind him; he’s got Brooklyn and New York behind him as well, so he’s an easy sell.
“He had 16 fights with first round knockouts. This guy has been racing through everybody and is back with his original trainer now as well, but he has been out of the ring for 12 months. So a lot of pressure on Saturday,” said Hearn about Berlanga.
