Edgar Berlanga predicts his next fight will hit 1 million PPV buys, hinting that he believes he will be chosen for Canelo Alvarez to fight in September.
The unbeaten #1 ranked WBA mandatory 168-lb contender Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) passed up an opportunity to challenge David Morrell Jr. for his title, hoping that he’ll get selected by Canelo and he might get his wish.
“My first PPV fight will crack 1 million pay-per-view buys,” said Edgar Berlanga on X, predicting massive success for his next fight.
Berlanga’s Popularity
Not enough New Yorkers are interested in watching Berlanga fight Canelo to bring in 1 million PPV buys. Berlanga is only popular in sections of New York state. His popularity is narrowed to parts of the city, and he’s a no-name in the rest of the U.S.
Canelo-Berlanga would bring in PPV buys from fans wanting to see Berlanga get exposed as a fake by Canelo, and it would be one of those fights where people would watch just to see Edgar lose. Fans would heavily ridicule the much, but the casuals might not care.
They just want to see Canelo fight, and they bring out anyone from the street, and they’d happily order the match on PPV.
It would invite much criticism if Canelo chooses the Eddie Hearn-promoted Berlanga as his next opponent because he’s viewed as an example of a fighter well-maneuvered by promoters to create a fake, manufactured contender that has no substance.
Canelo’s Options for September
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has two options for his next fight: Berlanga and Chris Eubank Jr.
The only appeal for Canelo in fighting the 34-year-old Eubank Jr. (33-3, 24 KOs) is fighting in England, but that doesn’t seem realistic for September, given that Anthony Joshua is already scheduled to fight on the 21st of that month. It’s not a good idea to schedule another fight close to that date in that country.
Eubank Jr. is useless to Canelo to fight in the U.S. because American fans don’t know who he is, and the ones that do view him as a non-achieving, flawed fighter who has no chance of being competitive against Alvarez.
If Canelo wants to receive less criticism from the fans, he should forget about Berlanga and Eubank Jr. and focus on fighting one of these fighters in September:
– Christian Mbilli
– Diego Pacheco
– Hamzah Sheeraz
– David Benavidez
The biggest problem Canelo has is that the super middleweight division lacks popular fighters. There’s only Benavidez, and he’s not a 168-pounder. He’s a guy who melts down from 175 to beat smaller opposition. That’s obviously why Canelo has been reluctant to fight him: He’s not a true super middleweight.
