Tim Bradley says Edgar Berlanga’s recent post about wanting to fight Anthony Joshua at heavyweight is a business move to continue making more money for his title fight with United super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14.
Although Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) lost by a 12-round unanimous decision, Bradley says he performed better than expected. With that performance, Bradley, 27, could put his managers in another big money battle.
Bradley says Berlanga’s comments about wanting to move up to 210 lbs and face Joshua for a $20 million pay day. He says that Berlanga’s idea is that he is making millions from the Canelo fight.
He wants to keep earning that kind of money, and the only way he can do that is to fight someone who is really popular. However, Bradley says Berlanga needs to focus on the fighters at 168, and he feels he has a good chance of defeating these fighters:
– Jaime Munguia
– Christian Mbili
– Caleb Plant
Berlanga opened his nose about the fight against Plant, and he no longer wants to fight Billi or Diego Pacheco. One of the three Berlanga is interested in fighting is Munguia, and he says it’s because he thinks the match will bring in more PPV buys.
“I thought Berlanga carried himself very well for a fighter who hasn’t fought at that level,” Tim Bradley told Fighthype, referring to Edgar Berlanga’s fight against Canelo Alvarez on September 14. “He did better than anyone expected, and Berlanga has to learn from this.”
I watched the Canelo-Berlanga fight, it seemed to me that Berlanga just played it safe, blocking, grappling, holding, using tactics.
Berlanga fought exactly the way a sparring partner would by punching, not throwing punches, and just trying to survive. When a guy is fighting for his life against a much younger, older fighter, he usually can’t. Berlanga did not show that kind of performance, suggesting that he will beat Munguia, Mbilli, Pacheco, or Plant. He can’t make good money fighting scrubs like the 22 guys he put together his CV with.
“He showed he’s a real fighter at 168 pounds,” Bradley said of Berlanga. “It was enough competition to satisfy my thirst for boxing. His manager put him in that spot, and we felt like he didn’t deserve that spot to fight Canelo. But he was in the right place at the right time, and he got it, and he did very well.”
The formula to put a fighter on a big payday
- Fight particularly weak opponents: Avoid high-level fighters
- Compete 25 lbs below your natural weight: If your natural weight is 193 lbs, drop to 168 for maximum size gains.
- Adopt a human villain: Brag about being a hated villain.
- Rinse and repeat after loss.
“So, now it’s like, ‘Damn, I just did it $10 million. How can I do it to get $20 million?’ So now he’s trying to be a businessman,” said Bradley in response to Berlanga saying he wants to fight Anthony Joshua or Daniel Dubois next. He says, ‘How can I position myself to get that now?’ That sounds crazy, but if you make $10 [million]you want to make $20 [million].”
Berlanga won’t get the Joshua or Daniel Dubois fights, obviously, but he’ll have to see what he plans to do at 168. If all Berlanga wants is Munguia, he may be waiting a long time. Even if he gets that fight, what does Berlanga do if he loses? Those pay days will dry up.
“It’s a business after all, but it’s clear, Berlanga, there are other fish to fry in 168. He can make really hard money. PPV numbers are good. He can contribute to that. It wasn’t all Canelo. He had a hand. He sold the fight, and I think he gave the fans a reason to want to see him fight again. You showed a lot of heart, if you show the fans what the fans are with you,” said Bradley.
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