Super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga might be facing a former middleweight on Saturday in New York, but his grand plans include future fights at heavyweight.
Berlanga, inspired by past greats, can see a significant rise in weight before his career is all said and done.
“I want to fight at heavyweight – two fights,” Berlanga told BoxingScene.
Asked whether he would go straight up or rise up through light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions, he said: “I don’t know, it depends. But I want to fight at heavyweight for sure because I’ve got the power and I think I’m going to be a lot stronger at heavyweight. It’s for fun. It’s something I want to accomplish. A lot of guys who fought at middleweight and super middleweight from back in the day fought at heavyweight. Roy Jones was fighting at heavyweight. He can do it, why can’t I do it? Didn’t James Toney do it, too? So it’s like, ‘Come on, bro,’ and these guys were at 160.”
But there are some big heavyweights lurking today, and that gave Berlanga pause for thought. Ultimately, though, he is keen to try it.
“That’s the problem, though,” he admitted. “In this generation these guys are 6-8, nearly 7ft. Back in the days, they were 6-2. It was my height. But I don’t give a fuck. I hit hard.”
Berlanga, who works with strength and conditioning coach Angel “Memo” Heredia, is 23-1 (18 KOs), with the lone loss coming against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez last year.
And his ambitious goals go beyond a couple of fights at heavyweight.
“Just becoming a legend,” Berlanga said. “I want my name to reign in boxing forever. I want people to talk about me and always talk about Berlanga, you know. Berlanga, [Felix] Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, these guys. Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Andre Ward. I want my name to be in that mix. That’s my goal.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
