Edgar Berlanga says he wants to get his hands on the “bad IBF title” in 2025 and is targeting super middleweight champion William Scale this year.
Canelo Pipe Dream
Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) has already outlined his plans to quickly win the IBF title from Scales and use the belt as bait for a rematch against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Berlanga is difficult $10 million salary because that fight was nice, especially since he didn’t have to do any risky fights to earn the title. He should be happy with that money because he won’t get another chance to fight Canelo, regardless of whether he wins the IBF belt.
If Berlanga wins that belt, he’ll be stuck having to defend it immediately against a top contender like Oslis Iglesias, and he’ll lose it immediately.
It’s doubtful the Mexican superstar would be interested in fighting Berlango again so soon, if at all. He would receive criticism for fighting a weak, undeserving Brooklyn, New York native for a second time.
Rehydration roadblocks
Even if Berlanga could fight for the IBF title, the 10lb rehydration rule would sink his chances of winning the belt. Having rehydrated to the 190s, he was unable to hold his weight at 178 for the secondary weigh-in on fight day. Berlanga reportedly rehydrated that 193 for his fight against Canelo. At that size, he should compete in the light heavyweight division.
Last September, Berlanga, 27, lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Canelo at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Results
118-109
118-109
117-110
“I want that IBF TITLE SO BAD !!!! World Champion 2025!! I’m going to fucking sleep 🇵🇷🇵🇷”, said Edgar Berlanga on Ks about his desire to challenge IBF super middleweight champion William Scales for his belt.
Skip again?
Boxing fans on social media are not favoring Berlanga to win the world title against IBF champion Skala. That would send the wrong message to fans that Berlanga can leapfrog the top contenders and get repeated world title shots without earning them.
What should Berlanga do against these contenders to win the title this time instead of being handed it on a silver platter:
Caleb Plant
Osley Iglesias
Diego Pacheco
Christian Mbilli
Bektemir Melikuziev
Jaime Munguia
Berlanga is ranked #4 VBA, #4 VBO and #6 VBC. Given that the International Boxing Federation does not rank him in the top 15, he is better off fighting for one of three other belts. However, to put Berlanga in the position of mandatory for the WBA, WBC and VBO belts, he would have to fight Planta, Iglesias, Mbili or Pacheco.
In other words, fighters who would probably beat him easily. But if Berlanga goes after the vulnerable Scull’s IBF belt, he would hold the keys to a well-paying rematch against Canelo. It would be a shrewd move on Berlanga’s part, but it’s doubtful he’ll get another fight with Canelo. The backlash from the fans would be severe for the Mexican star, who would not want to deal with it.