Consider this the next episode for Edgar Berlanga.<\/p>\n
Launching the final year of his 20s, he\u2019s joined Dana White\u2019s Zuffa Boxing, is tempering the talk and working toward a substantive career made humble by losses to champions Hamzah Sheeraz and Canelo Alvarez.<\/p>\n
The Zuffa Boxing machine is fully backing Brooklyn\u2019s Berlanga, 23-2 (18 KOs), giving him the main event Sunday, live on Paramount+ from Madison Square Garden\u2019s Theater, versus ranked super-middleweight Steven Butler, 38-5-1 (32 KOs), on a card that has Brooklyn\u2019s former IBF 140lbs champion Richardson Hitchins also making his Zuffa debut.<\/p>\n
Berlanga was last seen in the ring getting knocked out in the fifth round by current WBO champion Sherraz of England last July in New York after getting dropped twice in the fourth round.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy to be signed with Zuffa, blessed to be headlining again. I want to thank [UFC CEO\/President] Dana and [fellow Zuffa executive] Nick Khan for that instead of doing to me what regular promoters do to guys who take a loss,\u201d Berlanga said. \u201cHe told me, \u2018Nah, you\u2019re a superstar and you\u2019re going to be headlining. You\u2019re a ticket seller, you fight your ass off, you\u2019re Puerto Rican and you\u2019re from New York.\u2019 I\u2019m grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That confidence comes as Berlanga, who memorably opened his career with 16 first-round knockouts, communicates a mature measurement of where he\u2019s at and where he wants to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve reached at the pinnacle by fighting the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Canelo Alvarez [in 2024] \u2013 one of the greatest fighters ever. I\u2019ve already touched that,\u201d Berlanga told BoxingScene. \u201cSo, for me, popularity is big. A lot of people know me already.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel like now I need to really buckle down and focus on my career and becoming a world champion. I owe that to myself and my true supporters out there. It\u2019s time to buckle down and cement my legacy. I need to get through 2026 with ease, beating this dude, chasing belts and greatness and making the biggest fights happen as often as possible, [winning] them, taking over the sport and becoming a legend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really want to dedicate and push myself over the next couple of years to getting to the pound-for-pound rankings. I\u2019m past the popularity stuff, the loudness. I want to be one of the greatest in boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Formerly the WBA No. 1 contender when he was defeated widely by Alvarez on the scorecards, Berlanga is now No. 11 in the WBO while plotting to re-enter the WBA rankings by meeting its No. 11, Butler.<\/p>\n
Among the current 168lbs champions, Berlanga would like to get at new WBA champion Jaime Munguia of Mexico, aiming to win Sunday and campaign for a high-profile bout in December versus Chris Eubank Jnr.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still young. I haven\u2019t taken a lot of damage. I haven\u2019t been through crazy wars. I\u2019m still fresh in the game, still healthy and I told Dana I\u2019d like to get that one more fight in before the year ends and then go after a big [WBA title] fight against Munguia,\u201d Berlanga said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just got to lock in for \u201826, and then we\u2019re shooting for the stars \u2026 a big fight to end the year against Eubank overseas in London is going to be a big hit, an amazing fight. And, hopefully, we can get it rocking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berlanga\u2019s reemergence begins with Canada\u2019s Butler, who was knocked out in the second round by current middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly in a 2023 title fight but has won five of his past six bouts by knockout or stoppage.<\/p>\n
\u201cButler\u2019s a great fighter, but I\u2019m levels above him. I\u2019m going to show that and get through him with ease,\u201d Berlanga said. \u201cA lot of people have been seeing my body changing, my mindset, my coaching and team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to another level. Right now, my focus is Butler because if I don\u2019t get through him, then anything we\u2019ve planned is going out the window. He comes to fight. It\u2019s going to be an explosive night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just got to go in there, follow the game plan and be elite and let him know there are levels to this game and that I\u2019ve been in there with the best, Canelo Alvarez. In the 168 division, no one can top that now \u2013 definitely not Butler. You guys can expect greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fighting with neighbor and close friend Hitchins makes it a special evening. Both fighters are represented by manager Keith Connolly, who also negotiated September 12 welterweight title challenger Conor Benn\u2019s move to Zuffa during its first year in business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt Dana is a great promoter. He\u2019s done such an amazing job with the UFC, and he has something to prove here by coming over and wanting to dominate the boxing game. He has a great plan, and it was the best offer and best route for us,\u201d Berlanga said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDana\u2019s doing his thing and there\u2019s more to come as the top fighters see all of these top fighters coming to Zuffa. It\u2019s going to be an unstoppable promotion. Right now, Dana\u2019s got the keys and it\u2019s all on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knowing that the Benn fight is coming, and that Zuffa will offer appearances by four-division champion Shakur Stevenson and former cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia later this year, Berlanga embraces the card he\u2019s topping.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Sunday night\u2019s] gonna be crazy, electrifying. It\u2019s me and my brother in a double main event,\u201d Berlanga said.\u201dRichardson Hitchins is an amazing fighter. I look up to his skill set. He\u2019s sharp. We\u2019ve been knowing each other for long \u2013 he started boxing at 12, I started at 7. This is really my boxing brother, for real.\u201d<\/p>\n
As much as his career experiences have shaped him, Berlanga is still in tune with the lesson he gained in his boxing infancy: Knockouts sell.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople look at me as the knockout guy, and the fans love knockouts just like they love home runs in baseball. It\u2019s going to come \u2013 first round, second round,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m growing as a fighter, more mature. Patience and having a great IQ is everything in this sport. I\u2019ll use the jab. But the knockout\u2019s going to come. Like Floyd Mayweather told me, I\u2019ve got dynamite in my hands, so it\u2019s just about placing them in the right way, and these guys are going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Consider this the next episode for Edgar Berlanga. Launching the final year of his 20s, he\u2019s joined Dana…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,1920,6653,33003,50699,85,163952,118061],"class_list":["post-818239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-boxingscene","tag-edgar-berlanga","tag-richardson-hitchins","tag-sports","tag-steven-butler","tag-zuffa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}