Berlanga Reveals His Shortcut Plan for Canelo’s Second Fight: Win the IBF Title

Edgar Berlanga revealed his plan to get a quick rematch with Canelo Alvarez by winning the IBF super middleweight title. It’s a cunning, weasel-like strategy that Berlanga has dreamed up, with almost no chance of success in getting a rematch with Canelo.

It’s unclear whether Berlanga concocted the idea himself or his management to get a quick second payday fight against Canelo, but it looks like half of it.

Berlanga, who was promoted to Matchroom, believes that if he wins the IBF belt, he and Canelo can meet in a 168 lb untitled contest next year.

The US boxing community doesn’t really care about titles. They want to see big fights between famous fighters winning, undefeated, fighting for one side, as we saw with Berlanga last night. After his loss to Canelo, Berlanga needs to do more than just win the IBF title to earn a rematch with the Mexican star.

Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) was knocked out last Saturday night, losing to WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena. in Las Vegas.

The scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110. Berlanga was throwing jabs and wasn’t willing to throw power shots. Berlanga showed a good chin as he soaked Canelo’s hard shots. Another reason for that was Berlanga’s size.

Edgar looked like a light heavyweight inside the ring last night and had better size than Canelo. With the extra weight, Berlanga was able to land shots that he wouldn’t have been able to take had he been fighting in the 175 lb division against Artur Beterbiev. The way Berlanga fought last night, Artur Beterbiev would have taken him out in three rounds.

Berlanga feels he fought so well that the fans will want to see him and Canelo run it back next year.

Berlanga is trying to take a shortcut to a quick rematch against Canelo on the second major pay day by capturing the IBF title against the winner of the October 19 fight between William Scull and Vladimir Shishkin.

It’s understandable why Berlanga is looking at the IBF title as a way back to a lucrative fight against Canelo. Those two fighters, Shishkin and Scull, are the worst losers and will likely lose to most of the 10 competitors.

#1 Scull and #2 Shishkin meet for the vacant IBF 168-lb title next month on October 19 in Germany. If Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn were to set up a fight between the winner of that fight and Berlanga, the New Yorker could take the IBF title.

Even with the IBF title, Berlanga’s popularity will not increase much because Scull and Shishkin are unknown to American fans. Berlanga has to do more than just beat the likes of Scull or Shishkin to build excitement for a second fight with Canelo.

Alvarez would lose money by fighting Berlanga again because the rematch won’t sell to the American public after what they saw last Saturday night. Berlanga lost every round of the fight and was like a punching bag. He wasn’t the next Gennadiy Golovkin or Miguel Cotto. He was Munguia 2.0, and fans don’t want to pay to watch a rematch between Canelo and him.

“I know the IBF exists. So whoever wins the IBF, I want to fight the winner of them. I think so [Vladimir] Shishkin and William Scull fight for the IBF. So whoever wins, I would like to go and take that title, and then see if we can do a rematch with Canelo next year when there is no opposition,” said Edgar Berlanga on the Matchroom Boxing channel about his plans following the loss to Canelo Alvarez. last Saturday night.

Taking the IBF super middleweight title against mysterious fighters, Scull or Shishkin will not be enough for Berlanga to get a quick rematch from Canelo. Unless the Mexican star is feeling kind and wants to help Berlanga, he can make more money fighting other fighters.

Fight fans want to see in Canelo:

• David Benavidez
• Terence Crawford
• Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev who won

“I know you will [Canelo] give me a chance. It was an amazing fight. So, I’m going to talk to him to see if he can wait and let me try to beat one of these guys. Take the IBF so that I can become world champion, we will be able to run uncontested for real now,” said Berlanga.

You can understand why Berlanga wants to get a second pay day against Canelo, but you have to get it. Going the easy route to get that second mega-million payday isn’t powerful. If Berlanga wants a rematch with Canelo, he must be willing to sacrifice a lot by taking on David Benavidez, David Morrell, Beterbiev, Bivol, Christian Mbilli, or Osleys Iglesias.

“I already know. I felt his power. He felt my power, and it would be a great fight.”