Edgar Berlanga could fight Canelo Alvarez in 2024 says Eddie Hearn

By Boxing News - 02/04/2023 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Eddie Hearn is chomping at the bit to sign the popular New Yorker Edgar Berlanga to match him against Canelo Alvarez in 2024.

Hearn still says Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) needs to prove himself against three world-ranked contenders this year for him to get the fight against Canelo.

Unfortunately, Hearn isn’t saying who the 25-year Berlanga must beat for his three fights this year, but hopefully, it’s not a bunch of old, over-the-hill faded veterans or former world champions pushing 40 years old.

You can argue that promoters are looking to sign Berlanga so they can take advantage of his ability to sell tickets in New York. His fans turn up to see him and don’t seem to care that he’s fighting sorry opposition.

You’ve got to give Hearn credit for being honest, at least, about his intentions of putting Berlanga in a cash-out fight against Canelo Alvarez as soon as possible. It’s got to be soon because Berlanga was almost because by 38-year-old Steve Rolls last year, and he dropped hard in a life & death battle against Marcelo Esteban Coceres in 2021.

The fact that Berlanga has been struggling against second-tier opposition since Top Rank stopped matching him against cab drivers in 2021, it’s not a good sign that he’s going to be able to defeat three world ranked contenders unless Hearn picks bottom feeders at #14 or #15 for him to earn the Canelo fight the easy way.

“I hope so. We had a nice meeting with him. He’s obviously meeting everybody, but the fight for Edgar Berlanga, subject to him proving he’s of that level, is Canelo Alvarez. Mexico against Puerto Rico. It’s a monster fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype about him potentially signing Edgar Berlanga to his Matchroom Boxing stable and putting him in with Canelo Alvarez.

Not until next year. I think he’ll have three fights and then he’ll be ready,” Hearn said about when Berlanga could fight Canelo if he signs him to Matchroom. “You can’t make that fight now and say that’s a competitive fight. I think it will be competitive, but we need to see Edgar Berlanga in with world ranked fighters. But if you get it right and if he has the ability, that fight is massive, but there’s a lot of work to do.

“I like Edgar Berlanga, I think he’s a great personality, he has a great following, he’s very exciting, he does good numbers on the gate, and I’d love to welcome him to the Matchroom team. So we’ll see.

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“He’s a good fighter. That’s the thing. He blasts through 16 guys, then he gets injured and then he gets a couple [four] points victories. ‘Oh, he’s all hype.’ That’s just the world we live in. He’s a very good fighter.

“Like I said, there’s a lot of hype behind him, a lot of popularity, and I think he’s got a lot to give,” said Hearn about Berlanga.