Reasons to Smile: Edgar Berlanga is a very happy man

BN: How significant is this weekendโ€™s fight, given the grand plans for your future?

I take all my fights serious, but this one is different. Yโ€™know, 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 thereโ€™s a lot that comes into it, man. Iโ€™ve 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.

Quigleyโ€™s a great fighter. You go on social media, people are all talking shit, saying, โ€œThis guyโ€™s an Uber driverโ€. Heโ€™s a threat to me and the 168lbs division. Heโ€™s 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. Iโ€™m a different fighter; Iโ€™m not who I was last year. Last year I was an injured fighter; this year Iโ€™m different, man. I feel like the skyโ€™s 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; itโ€™s gonna be another night like that. Ireland versus Puerto Rico is something crazy; weโ€™re both warriors; thereโ€™s no quit in us; no quit in them. Itโ€™s 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. Yโ€™know, thatโ€™s the main goal for anybody in the 168lbs division. A top dog wants the king; he has all the titles, so who wouldnโ€™t want to fight him? Thatโ€™s something thatโ€™s on the horizon, but I gotta handle business; I gotta destroy Quigley; I gotta look the best Iโ€™ve ever looked in my career to make that statement.

It was spoken about with Matchroom. โ€œThis 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 weโ€™ll be talking up that fight.

It could be my next fight. Eddie [Hearn] didnโ€™t say, โ€œOh, this is gonna be your next fightโ€, but itโ€™s going around that Canelo and [Dmitrii] Bivolโ€™s fight isnโ€™t happening, David Benavidez is up in the air; him and [Jermall] Charloโ€™s up in the air; so, people are looking around, wondering who he could fight next. โ€œOh shit, Berlanga โ€“ Berlangaโ€™s fighting the 24th. Oh, Berlangaโ€™s Puerto Rican. Oh, heโ€™s from New York. Oh, heโ€™s gonna be 21-0. Okay, this is something that could happen. Heโ€™s with the same promoterโ€. Itโ€™s easy.


BN: What did you make of his performance last month against John Ryder?

He did good. Yโ€™know, he broke John Ryder down. I mean, you seen his face โ€“ he was all bloody. If John Ryder wouldโ€™ve pushed a little bit more, I think Canelo wouldโ€™ve still won. I think Canelo did his thing.

Possibly [heโ€™s in decline]. I seen a little bit of it with Ryder โ€“ I just feel like right now, heโ€™s still a king at 168, so everybodyโ€™s gonna look at him. He canโ€™t always look that good. Next fight heโ€™ll probably jump back into who he was a year ago; two years ago.

[The Puerto Rico-Mexico rivalry], thatโ€™s something big; I know thatโ€™s why everybodyโ€™s pushing for that. They feel like if they make that fight happen, itโ€™s 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 didnโ€™t 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. Thatโ€™s another fight โ€“ย itโ€™d be a great fight that could happen.

Heโ€™s crazy [for wanting to fight Bivol in a rematch]. I donโ€™t 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 dudeโ€™s a giant at 175. I donโ€™t think he can win [a rematch at 175lbs]. If Bivol drops to 168lbs I think itโ€™ll be a different outcome, for sure. If Canelo goes back to who he was, I think thereโ€™s 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?

Heโ€™s a beast. Heโ€™s one of the top dogs at 168. Heโ€™s proven himself each and every fight. Heโ€™s just looking for those big-money fights, and I feel heโ€™s one of the top dogs at 168.


BN: How much are you relishing having reunited with your trainer Marc Farrait?ย 

Itโ€™s amazing, man. Iโ€™ve never been so happy, man. Iโ€™m back with the guy that made me, yโ€™know? Itโ€™s different when you have a guy that knows you in and out. Heโ€™s knows me; he knows what to do to take the best out of me; heโ€™s the guy that invented that monster instinct inside me; he brought it out of me. Iโ€™m looking different; Iโ€™m feeling different; Iโ€™m in the gym. Iโ€™m stopping sparring partners. Itโ€™s different, man. My mindset is different; my IQ is different. Iโ€™m excited.

Hell yeah, it was a mistake [to split with him]. I feel like if Iโ€™d 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 donโ€™t see me โ€“ it was weird.

Thereโ€™s 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. Thatโ€™s 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 โ€“ย that knows what triggers you to get that killer instinct out of you, then thatโ€™s the guy you gotta stay with.

My careerโ€™s just getting started. Itโ€™s a brand new start for me. Iโ€™m with a new promoter; Iโ€™m back with my old trainer; Iโ€™m still fresh. I havenโ€™t taken any punishment in the sport of boxing. You see my face. Iโ€™m still me. If I was with Mark, I wouldโ€™ve 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 canโ€™t 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. Thatโ€™s whatโ€™s most important for me.

I didnโ€™t even know about [first-round knockout artist, the late Edwin Valero] until I started knocking people out in the first round. People were like, โ€œYo, you could probably beat this guyโ€. โ€œHeโ€™s 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. Thatโ€™s the truth.

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