Edgar Berlanga insists that everything is clicking for him.
The unbeaten 168-pound contender is coming off a one-sided decision over Jason Quigley in June, which came after a one year layoff. He put the Irishman down four times, including twice in a wild 12th round. He reunited with former trainer Mac Farrait for that fight, which has energized him. And he has hired respected conditioning coach Angel “Memo” Heredia.
He’s ready to rock ‘n’ roll against Padraig McCrory on Saturday at Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida (DAZN).
“The 12th round of my last fight, I feel like that’s really woken me up,” Berlanga said. “I haven’t missed anything. I know I have got the power to hurt anybody, and I feel different as a fighter, mentally, physically and spiritually. I know that there’s going to be fireworks coming from me on February 24. That’s a fact. I’m coming for the KO. He can say whatever he wants, but at the end of the day, we have to go in there and tussle.
“Me at my best, nobody is f—— with me. When I am 100 percent, which you’ll see on February 24, I am unstoppable.”
Berlanga (21-0, 16 KOs) hasn’t looked unstoppable, at least not compared to the start of his career.
The 26-year-old New Yorker garnered international attention by stopping his first 16 opponents in the first round, a run that stamped him as a rising young star. He has continued to win but his last five victories – decisions over better opposition – didn’t come as easily.
He even struggled at times against Quigley, finding it difficult to cope with the Irishman’s movement. He said recently that he went into that fight with injuries, which isn’t the case today.
He’s now healthy after a productive training camp in the Tampa, Florida area.
“I’ve sacrificed a lot, changing my environment, coming to the suburbs and being fully locked in on myself and my craft,” he said. “I’ve refocused on the small details of my style to bring the best out of me. So, from all that right there, it’s going to be something amazing.
“There is jealousy. I’m here in Tampa now and there’s a lot of people out there that were acting like they were my friends, and they weren’t, people that were close to me that were envying me. So I got rid of all those people, and I’m just focused on myself and my team.
“And I feel that with God with me, the sky is the limit and there’s nothing stopping me.”
He believes that a strong performance against McCrory (18-0, 9 KOs) – a knockout? – will bring back some of the buzz that has been missing the past few years.
And he hopes it will lead to his dream fight: a meeting with undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez.
“I’ll be one of the best 168-pouind fighters in the world,” he said. “I think that after this fight my name is going to be buzzing again, and people will be talking about me and Canelo in September or Jaime Munguia. I feel those fights are there to be made and it’s time to go capture a belt.
“I’m not the guy that fought Jason, and he’s (McCrory) going to see that. I’m getting better and better. I was four years away from Marc before that fight and I went through a lot of injuries in that camp.
“I’m on a different level now physically. I’m sparring 15, 16 rounds with three or four different guys, and I didn’t get a chance to do that in my last camp with the injuries and coming back to camp overweight with the lay-off and not having a promoter, going through some depression in New York.
“We brought in ‘Memo,’ who everyone knows has worked with the best, and we know we can go 12 strong rounds and go at it hard, and I know that if I do that, no one can stand a chance with me.”
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