“Obviously we came up with a good strategy, a good game plan [White] and Zuffa, Nick Khan, didn’t give us any problems or anything. They are happy.”
Berlanga says he told Dana White that he wants to take the super middleweight world title. In other words, he is not just focused on winning Zuffa’s belt.
“I told Dana, ‘Listen, I want to win the world title at 168,'” Berlanga said. “That’s my goal. That’s why I’m so locked up now, especially after this last fight, it woke me up.”
It will be difficult for Berlanga to win the world title at 168 without careful play by Zuffa. Interestingly, he says he wanted to fight the winner of the fight between WBA 168-lb champion Jose Armando Resendiz and Jaime Munguia. Many fans believe that Resendiz is the weak link among the current super middleweight champions.
“I like Resendiz and Munguia, who will fight in a few weeks,” said Berlanga. “That’s a dope fight that I think we can stir up something really good. You know, the winner of that.”
That’s Berlanga’s real fight, as long as Zuffa gives the winner enough money to make it a trial. Munguia would obviously like a rematch with Canelo Alvarez if that option is presented.
“I want that Eubank fight, that Chris Eubank fight,” said Berlanga. “I’m interested in that.”
Naming Eubank Jr. as a target is the definition of “enterprise level” warfare. Eubank Jr. he’s 36, coming off a defeat to Conor Benn late last year, and clearly on the decline. For Berlanga, this is a low-risk, high-reward payday. He arrives at the title of “big-ass arena” in the UK against a name that is popular with the general public but poses little threat to the small, naturally large super middleweight.
“There’s a lot of money out there,” Berlanga said of the Eubank Jr. fight. in the UK. Then we will fight in that big donkey arena. And you know, I fought Canelo. Thousands of Mexicans. So I don’t mind going out there.
The move to Zuffa Boxing looks like an attempt to reset his image. It’s actually very smart for Berlanga if his goal is to make a lot of money before the wheels fall off completely. But if he thinks beating Eubank Jr. a 36-year-old or champion like Resendiz makes him the “King of New York,” it probably won’t work. Beating Eubank Jr. or Resendiz will not change the opinion of the fans about Berlanga.
After being stopped by Hamzah Sheeraz last July and losing to Canelo before that, Berlanga’s stock as an elite fighter is at an all-time low.
This actor from Brooklyn, New York, Berlanga, says that Dana White told him that he should be a star in New York. It’s not clear why that would be, as Berlanga has never won a world title and is best known for losing to Canelo and Hamzah Sheeraz. His best wins were against UK fighters, Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory. Those are not top level fighters.
“Dana was like, ‘Yo, bro, I know how big you are in New York, but you shouldn’t be able to walk around town right now,'” said Berlanga. “You have to have 100,000 people trying to take pictures with you. No, it’s a brand. Building your name. Putting you in the right place where you’re going to become such a star. That’s why I love him.”
It sounds like Berlanga is talking a big game while looking for a path of least resistance. It sounds like a survival strategy wrapped in a Dana White marketing paper.
