Gabe Rosado wasn’t awed by what he saw from Edgar Berlanga from his sixth-round knockout win over Padraig McCrory last Saturday night. Rosado feels that the 35-year-old Irish fighter McCrory (18-1, 9 KOs) wasn’t a true “top ten” contender, and he says he “had no skills.”
Boxing fans on social media agree with Rosado, viewing the previously unbeaten super middleweight contender McCrory as ‘can,’ and believe that Berlanga’s promoter Eddie Hearn purposively scoured the 168-lb division, looking for a scrub that Edgar could look good against.
They believe that he would have been blown out of the water if Hearn matched Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) against a talented super middleweight like David Morrell Jr, Diego Pacheco, Jaime Munguia, or Caleb Plant.
Hearn would then be stuck with the New Yorker Berlanga for one more fight before his contract with Matchroom Boxing was up and move on. If Hearn can’t get Canelo or Munguia for his next fight, his last with his company, he’ll likely be parting ways with him anyway.
Re-signing Berlanga will probably be expensive, and it won’t be worth it if he can’t interest Canelo in fighting him.
Other Contenders Deserve Canelo More
“He had a slow start, but no disrespect to McCrory. He’s not really on his level,” said Gabe Rosado to Fighthype, reacting to Edgar Berlanga’s win over Padraig McCrory. “Yeah, Berlanga looked good, but it’s not like McCory was competition.
“Munguia, Benavidez, those are the guys that really deserve the shot,” Rosado said when asked if Berlanga’s win over McCrory earned him a title shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Benavidez deserves a chance to fight Canelo more than Berlanga, who has been spoonfed terrible opposition his entire eight-year career. However, Munguia has also fought poor opposition and doesn’t deserve a fight against Canelo either.
“Berlanga did what he was supposed to do, but he didn’t beat a world beater. He didn’t beat a top-ten dude. He beat a guy that came from Ireland. He was game, but the boy had no skills,” said Rosado.
Did Hearn think that fans wouldn’t notice how mediocre McCrory was? All you had to do was look at video of some of McCrory’s past fights to predict that he would be totally overmatched against Berlanga, as he’s not a world-class fighter in the true sense. McCrory is more at the domestic level and not even at the British level.
Morrell as a Better Option
“Even [David] Morrell [deserves a shot against Canelo more than Berlanga]. Yeah, that fight would make more sense. There are a couple of other guys lined up that the fans believe is better competition for Canelo [than Berlanga],” said Rosado.
Of course, the talented Cuban David Morrell deserves a fight with Canelo more than Berlanga. That’s a no-brainer. Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) holds the WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title and could be the best fighter in the 168-lb division right now.
“A guy like Munguia fought world-class guys, beat world-class guys. That fight makes more sense,” said Rosado. ‘Berlanga did what he was supposed to do, but that’s not a top guy.
“There’s a lot of holes in his [Berlanga] game. No jab and no real bodywork. He was able to land that power just because he was patient. McCrory is slow and he was fighting with his lead hand down with his chin all exposed.
“Usually, when a guy fights with his lead hand down is because he has reflexes. He can move side to side. He can get away from the shots. But if you’re slow and you got no D, what are you doing with your hand low?” said Rosado.
