BN: How significant is this weekendโs fight, given the grand plans for your future?
I take all my fights serious, but this one is different. Yโknow, this is more personal towards me. After a year being off; new promoter; being back with my old team; possibly fighting Canelo this year, so thereโs a lot that comes into it, man. Iโve been busting my ass at the gym; working on a lot of different things, man. This is either gonna make me or break me, this fight.
Quigleyโs a great fighter. You go on social media, people are all talking shit, saying, โThis guyโs an Uber driverโ. Heโs a threat to me and the 168lbs division. Heโs going in there as the best version of himself, like everybody did. [Past opponent Roamer Alexis] Angulo came in overweight to have an advantage over me. Every fighter that fights me comes in different. Iโm a different fighter; Iโm not who I was last year. Last year I was an injured fighter; this year Iโm different, man. I feel like the skyโs the limit.
[Someone of Puerto Rican descent fighting an Irishman in New York] is important. You got my sister, Amanda Serrano, that fought Katie Taylor and it did crazy numbers. You seen that it was a crazy packed house in The Garden; itโs gonna be another night like that. Ireland versus Puerto Rico is something crazy; weโre both warriors; thereโs no quit in us; no quit in them. Itโs gonna be an amazing night.
BN: What have you been told about pursuing Saul Alvarez?
For us to work our way to get to that fight. Yโknow, thatโs the main goal for anybody in the 168lbs division. A top dog wants the king; he has all the titles, so who wouldnโt want to fight him? Thatโs something thatโs on the horizon, but I gotta handle business; I gotta destroy Quigley; I gotta look the best Iโve ever looked in my career to make that statement.
It was spoken about with Matchroom. โThis is the fight that could possibly happen.โ Win impressively; win big. Focus on the 24th; destroy this guy; look good; perform to my best ability to show out. Then weโll be talking up that fight.
It could be my next fight. Eddie [Hearn] didnโt say, โOh, this is gonna be your next fightโ, but itโs going around that Canelo and [Dmitrii] Bivolโs fight isnโt happening, David Benavidez is up in the air; him and [Jermall] Charloโs up in the air; so, people are looking around, wondering who he could fight next. โOh shit, Berlanga โ Berlangaโs fighting the 24th. Oh, Berlangaโs Puerto Rican. Oh, heโs from New York. Oh, heโs gonna be 21-0. Okay, this is something that could happen. Heโs with the same promoterโ. Itโs easy.
BN: What did you make of his performance last month against John Ryder?
He did good. Yโknow, he broke John Ryder down. I mean, you seen his face โ he was all bloody. If John Ryder wouldโve pushed a little bit more, I think Canelo wouldโve still won. I think Canelo did his thing.
Possibly [heโs in decline]. I seen a little bit of it with Ryder โ I just feel like right now, heโs still a king at 168, so everybodyโs gonna look at him. He canโt always look that good. Next fight heโll probably jump back into who he was a year ago; two years ago.
[The Puerto Rico-Mexico rivalry], thatโs something big; I know thatโs why everybodyโs pushing for that. They feel like if they make that fight happen, itโs gonna be crazy sales on pay-per-view.
I actually called [Ryder] out last year โ trying to make the fight when I was with Top Rank, and they didnโt want to make the fight happen. He wound up taking a fight with Zach Parker, and then he wound up getting the Canelo fight. That was crazy; we were trying to call out Ryder, not knowing that that fight was leading to the Canelo fight. Thatโs another fight โย itโd be a great fight that could happen.
Heโs crazy [for wanting to fight Bivol in a rematch]. I donโt think that was gonna happen at all. [Bivol] wanted him to come to 168; to fight for all the titles at 168. Canelo wanted to go up to 175 โ this dudeโs a giant at 175. I donโt think he can win [a rematch at 175lbs]. If Bivol drops to 168lbs I think itโll be a different outcome, for sure. If Canelo goes back to who he was, I think thereโs a possibility [he can win at 168lbs], yeah.
BN: You and David Benavidez are widely considered to be coming up behind Alvarez. How good a fighter is he?
Heโs a beast. Heโs one of the top dogs at 168. Heโs proven himself each and every fight. Heโs just looking for those big-money fights, and I feel heโs one of the top dogs at 168.
BN: How much are you relishing having reunited with your trainer Marc Farrait?ย
Itโs amazing, man. Iโve never been so happy, man. Iโm back with the guy that made me, yโknow? Itโs different when you have a guy that knows you in and out. Heโs knows me; he knows what to do to take the best out of me; heโs the guy that invented that monster instinct inside me; he brought it out of me. Iโm looking different; Iโm feeling different; Iโm in the gym. Iโm stopping sparring partners. Itโs different, man. My mindset is different; my IQ is different. Iโm excited.
Hell yeah, it was a mistake [to split with him]. I feel like if Iโd stayed with him I would be in a way different position right now. It was reasons outside of boxing [that led to us splitting]. There was never no beef between me and him; we just had to part ways. When we parted ways, we ended up both deciding that we needed to get back. I see my last fights [without him] and donโt see me โ it was weird.
Thereโs also chemistry. Me leaving him, and going from trainer to trainer โ it really hit me that as a fighter, you gotta have chemistry with your coach. Thatโs so important, man. You have to have a guy that knows you โ that knows how to bring the best out of you. If you have a guy that knows how to get the best out of you โย that knows what triggers you to get that killer instinct out of you, then thatโs the guy you gotta stay with.
My careerโs just getting started. Itโs a brand new start for me. Iโm with a new promoter; Iโm back with my old trainer; Iโm still fresh. I havenโt taken any punishment in the sport of boxing. You see my face. Iโm still me. If I was with Mark, I wouldโve been 20-0 with 20 knockouts right now.
BN: Do you fight with a reduced sense of a pressure since your run of first-round knockouts ended?
Yeah, for sure. I needed those rounds. At this level you need to go rounds โ especially to compete with the [Artur] Beterbievs; the [Jermall] Charlos; the Canelos; the Triple Gs [Gennady Golovkin]. Those dudes have done 12 rounds; 20-plus fights. If I canโt get a 10-rounder in, what good am I? I know that I can go those rounds; I know that I can be in there with the best. Thatโs whatโs most important for me.
I didnโt even know about [first-round knockout artist, the late Edwin Valero] until I started knocking people out in the first round. People were like, โYo, you could probably beat this guyโ. โHeโs a beastโ, but he was fighting real cab drivers. He was fighting โ Uber drivers on my app. He was fighting those type of guys. I was fighting guys that fought world champions โ look at my Boxrec [page] โ I was fighting guys that went the distance with world champions, bro, and I was knocking them out in the first round. Thatโs the truth.