Promoter Eddie Hearn says he’ll be ready to push for Edgar Berlanga to be Canelo Alvarez’s next foe for May 4th if the Puerto Rican American knockout artist looks spectacular tonight against Padraig McCrory on DAZN in Orlando, Florida.
Hearn notes that Berlanga’s fight against McCrory (18-0, 9 KOs) probably isn’t a big enough one to put him in a good position to fight undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo. Still, if he looks good enough, he’ll give it a shot anyway.
Canelo doesn’t have an opponent still for his May 4th date, having ruled out Terence Crawford, Jaime Munguia and David Benavidez as potential foes. That leaves Jermall Charlo and Edgar Berlanga as possibilities.
PBC reportedly isn’t interested in Jermall and wants Munguia, but Canelo has already said he doesn’t want to fight a Mexican fighter. Assuming Canelo says no to the Munguia fight and PBC won’t agree to Jermall, Berlanga is a possibility.
The Need for a Bigger Win
“If he’s looking for an opponent and nothing is forthcoming and Edgar looks sensational, I’m going to call it on,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about him calling for Edgar Berlanga to be Canelo Alvarez’s next opponent for May 4th if he looks spectacular against Padraig McCrory tonight in Orlando, Florida.
A big knockout is what Berlanga needs tonight against the 35-year-old McCrory, but it still might not get him the Canelo fight because the Irish fighter isn’t well-known enough for him to allow Hearn to have a realistic chance of luring the Mexican star into using his fighter as his next opponent.
Mexico vs. Puerto Rico Blockbuster
“I still think Edgar needs a bigger win than Padraig McCrory for everybody to believe that he definitely deserves the chance [to fight Canelo], but he’s [Berlanga] a world-class fighter who can punch hard and comes to fight. It’s Mexico vs. Puerto Rico, why not if he hasn’t got an opponent?”
Berland is going to have to look like pure gold tonight for him to get picked out by Canelo for May 4th.
“It’s a massive fight for Edgar and a massive fight for Padraig McCrory as well. It’s two huge punchers, and Berlanga needs a statement. He needs to make sure he looks good so I can keep calling out these big fights for him, but it’s going to be a really exciting fight,” said Hearn.
