Super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga (21-0, 16 KOs) will be fighting Ireland’s Padraig McCrory (18-0, 9 KO) in a headliner on February 24th on DAZN at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
Matchroom Boxing is giving the 26-year-old Berlanga a step up after his recent poor showing against Jason Quigley last June.
Putting the seven-year professional Berlanga in with McCrory in a sink-or-swim fashion is a good way to see what they’ve got with him, as he looked like fools gold against Quigley, and he was heavily criticized after that contest by boxing fans on social media.
Promoter Eddie Hearn had talked previously about wanting to match Berlanga against Canelo Alvarez, but he quieted down completely after his performance against Quigley.
Berlanga didn’t look ready for even bottom fringe contenders from the 168 or 160-lb divisions. When Hearn signed Berlanga, he seemed so excited, but after his last fight, it’s as if he’s invisible now and doesn’t exist.
Hearn never mentions Berlanga anymore, and that could be a signal that he’s on the outs with the promoter, who isn’t going to keep fighters around if they don’t perform.
The 35-year-old McCrory hasn’t faced any notable opposition during his six-year professional career, so it’s difficult to know how he’ll do against Berlanga. If McCrory has decent talent, he could win this fight as long as he avoids Berlanga’s big shots.
Berlanga started off his career with sixteen consecutive knockouts while promoted by Top Rank. However, after Berlanga struggled against Marcelo Esteban Coceres and Steve Rolls in back-to-back fights, he parted ways with Top Rank and was signed by Matchroom.
McCrory’s recent wins:
Steed Woodall
Diego Ramirez
Dmytro Fedas
Leon Bunn
Marco Antonio Periban
Celso Neves
McCrory is too old to be fighting no-name opposition, so it’s good that he at least is taking on Berlanga, a fighter with an inflated record as well. If Berlanga loses, he’s at least young enough to rebuild, depending on how badly he gets beaten.
What’s troubling is how Berlanga has shown zero improvement in his last three fights. He’s looked like he’s regressing, looking pregressively worse.
If Berlanga keeps performing like he did against Quigley, it won’t be surprising if Matchroom moves him to undercard slots. They can’t afford to match Berlanga against top-level super middleweights with the way he’s fighting now, and it’s not a good deal for DAZN if he’s facing lesser opposition like McCrory & Quigley.
McCrory will at least show whether Berlanga has the ability to fight at a slightly higher level. If Berlanga passes this test, Hearn can step him up against some of the gatekeepers, like Diego Pacheco, Demetrius Andrade, or Caleb Plant.
