By Brian Webber: Edgar Berlanga thinks Jason Quigley will be running from him all night this Saturday, June 24th, in their headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The highly ranked super middleweight contender Berlanga is coming off a 12-month layoff to battle the upset-minded Quigley (20-2, 14 KOs).
A lot of pressure will be on the unbeaten Berlanga because he’s making his debut with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, like we recently saw with Regis Prograis, and he can’t afford to perform poorly.
Quigley, 32, has the experience advantage over Berlanga, and he’ll try to outbox him. The Irish fighter isn’t going to want to stand in front of Berlanga and trade shots because he won’t last long taking the kind of bombs the New York native will be throwing.
The fighters had a hilarious first face-off on Tuesday, with Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) getting a little confused about the geography of Ireland, believing it’s a city.
“I know he’s going to run, so I trained for that. I’m going to cut him off and wear him down,” said Edgar Berlanga to iFL TV about Jason Quigley. “I don’t have anybody on my radar. I just have to get over this weekend,” said Berlanga when asked who he wanted to fight next.
“I have to focus on this guy and take him into deep waters, handle my business, and then I’ll be looking for any of these guys.”
Edger Berlanga: “You’re in my city. You’re in the trenches now.”
Jason Quigley: “This is where you were born? I know, yeah. I know I’m in your city.
Berlanga: “You’re in the trenches.”
Quigley: “This is New York. I know what’s my city and what’s not my city.”
Berlanga: “You’re in my city. Ireland is my city too.”
Quigley: “Whatever, lad. I’ll make this my city on Saturday night.”
Berlanga: “Yeah, I know.”
“Yeah, he does,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV when asked if Edgar Berlanga needs to impress against Jason Quigley on Saturday. “Again, the same thing. Loads of Matchroom hype and loads of Eddie Hearn hype.
“Homecoming fight, and loads of media. Go and perform. It didn’t work out for Regis [Prograis]. Homecoming fight, so let’s see what Edgar is made of. I think the danger for Edgar is he’s been out of the ring for over a year.
“Jason Quigley is coming off a win. I think he’s going to really like it at 168. He’s got plenty of balls, Jason Quigley, and I think it’s going to be a really explosive fight. Puerto Rico against Ireland.
“They’re going to be drowned out by the Irish this time. A massive crowd with massive attention, and he needs to make a statement,” said Hearn about Berlanga.
