Underdog Padraig McCrory says he realizes he’s going to have to choose moments where he’s going to need to stand and fight heavily hyped super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga this Saturday night in their fight live on DAZN at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida.
#3 WBA McCrory (18-0, 9 KOs) says if he doesn’t stand up to Berlanga (21-0, 16 KOs), he’ll “bully” him, and it’ll be a long night in their 12-round clash in this Matchroom Boxing promoted show.
Ireland native McCrory, 35, has been carefully chosen to keep Berlanga’s unbeaten record going and to improve his chance of getting a big money title shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Berlanga has openly said that he needs to make a “statement’ against McCrory to put him in a fight against Canelo in 2024, be it in May or September.
“We have plans A, B and C. I seen the fight. I seen the fight with [Roamer Alexis] Angulo, and I seen that he moved a lot. I don’t know if it was because of Angulo’s power, and he respected it a little bit. I don’t know if he was trying something new,” said Padraig McCrory to Fighthype, talking about Edgar Berlanga.
Berlanga’s last opponent, Jason Quigley, had success boxing and slugging with him last June, so it’s possible that McCrory can do the same thing. As long as he doesn’t get caught while slugging, he can win this fight.
“One thing is for sure, there’s going to be a stage in the fight where I’m going to have to stand and fight him,” said McCrory. “If we let him dictate and bully, which he likes to do, I think we’re in for a very long night. So, there’s going to be a stage where it catches fire, and we’re going to stand and fight.
“I definitely think there’s as good fighters that haven’t gotten the platform that Edgar has gotten. I think that it’s come from his first 16 first-round knockouts, and it’s built him up and created the hype.
“Recently, there’s been a lot of questions asked of him. Is he what he was made out to be. I definitely think in Europe and America that there are a lot of fighters that haven’t gotten the privileges that Edgar has gotten, who are just as good as him,” said McCrory.
