EDGAR BERLANGA made it clear the calibre of fighter he would like to fight next following his win over Jason Quigley last night.
The New York born Puerto Rican was taken the distance by the Irishman at the Madison Square Garden Theatre in his 21st fight. Many believed Quigley would be knocked out or certainly beaten inside 12 rounds but the 32-year-old’s heart and Berlanga’s inability to finish his man off ensured the final bell was heard.
Berlanga 21-0 (16) dropped Quigley four times during the contest but got caught flush a number of times with heavy shots trying to press the action. Afterwards the winner mentioned two fighters he is keen to take on.
“I want to fight the best. I feel like it’s that time. I want the Munguia’s, the Triple G’s, those type of guys. We’re looking forward to fighting once again this year and hopefully we get a big fight,” Berlanga told DAZN’s Chris Mannix.
Munguia is currently promoted by Oscar De La Hoya who in the past has made clear his dislike for Berlanga’s promoter Eddie Hearn. The former boxing superstar has also mocked his rival over the last few days since reports emerged that Canelo Alvarez would begin a three-fight deal fighting under the Premier Boxing Champions banner which would bring his time with Matchroom to an end.
However, Berlanga and Munguia both fight on DAZN which may lead to the company’s Executive Vice-President Joe Markowski getting involved to help ensure the Mexico-Puerto Rico clash takes place.
Following last night’s win Hearn reeled off a host of names at 168lbs who he would like Berlanga to face at some point.
“Gennadiy Golovkin, Jaime Munguia, John Ryder, Billy Joe Saunders, these are the fights this guy’s gonna be in. It was an incredible atmosphere tonight. He’s gonna be in fight of the year contenders all the time. Big future in the 168lb division. All of those guys, rack em’ up.”
Prior to last night’s victory Berlanga had faced some criticism for recent performances. The win over Quigley 20-3 (14) was the fifth consecutive fight the 26-year-old had gone the distance.
“I give it a C,” Berlanga answered when asked to rate his performance.
“It’s a year layoff off [from] a bicep injury and I had to recover from that.
“He [Quigley] knew I was coming to fight. Everybody that steps in the ring with me knows I’ve got punching power. They train to survive, they try to box, move around, use their jab, and try to cut me off because they know I’ve got the hammer.
“Every fighter I face at his level they’re gonna try to run and move around but I’m grateful I got the victory.”
With all that being said does Berlanga believe he is ready for someone like Munguia who beat Sergiy Dereyvanchenko in a fight of the year contender this month.
“Oh, of course. We just scraped the rust off. I knew what it was gonna be like shaking the rust off getting that killer mentality back. Like I said I’m just glad we got the victory.
“I knew he wasn’t gonna come to fight. I said it when we had the fighters meeting it’s gonna be a difficult fight. He gonna try to survive. All these [opponents are] gonna try to survive. I feel like [when] I get to that top level with these guys like Munguia they gonna try to knock me out just like I’m gonna try to knock them out.”
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