Gabe Rosado is excited about the prospect of fighting Edgar Berlanga, the former super middleweight title challenger, next year in Puerto Rico.
The New Yorker Berlanga (22-1, 17 KO) and Rosado are both of Puerto Rican descent but were born in the United States and are expected to fight next on the island in what could be a Matchroom Boxing card promoted on DAZN.
The 19-year-old professional Rosado (26-17-1, 15 KOs) has not won a fight in four years since his upset third-round knockout win over Bektemir Melikuzyev on June 19, 2021.
Berlanga suffered his first professional defeat, losing to unified 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14 in Las Vegas. It was mostly one-sided, but Berlanga, 27, made him competitive with his massive size. It was reportedly moistened 193 lbs After weighing in at 167 3/4 lbs.
This means a weight gain of 25.25 pounds after rehydration. Canelo dropped Berlanga in the third round but then appeared to let his foot off the gas pedal instead of going for the knockout. Some people think Canelo carried Berlanga.
They felt that Alvarez did not want to be criticized for knocking out the Brooklyn, New York native because he had already been ridiculed for being chosen over more proven fighters like David Benavidez and David Morrell.
Results
118-109
117-110
118-109
Fans would prefer Berlanga fight a real contender rather than the 38-year-old journeyman Rosado in his next fight, but it would be too risky to put him with a top-15 prospect. Berlanga is already talking about getting a quick win and then fighting Jaime Munguia to get a rematch with Canelo.
It may take more than just getting over Rosado and Munguia for Berlanga to get a second fight against Alvarez, but you can't blame him for wanting to at least try. Berlanga's purse for that fight was $3 million, and he likely made additional money from the PPV. It has achieved 650,000 purchases. Those are excellent numbers.
“It's a fight for me, it's just my dream fight because I've never fought in Puerto Rico,” Gabe Rosado said. Mill City Boxing He will potentially fight New Yorker Edgar Berlanga next in 2025 in Puerto Rico. “I live in Puerto Rico for half the year. I have a house there. So, I'm always there.
“I'm telling you, this is going to put a different battery on my back. You have legends like Cotto and Tito (Trinidad and Amanda Serrano). It's a very good thing for the sport. Puerto Rican boxing is back on the map, because you have a lot of great talent now.
“You have Berlanga, you have the vet, Gabe Rosado. To put us in PR, the island would love that. You have two Boricuas from the United States coming back to Puerto Rico,” Rosado said of him and Berlanga. “This is going to be history, it’s going to be a dope event. There is no real difference between being in Puerto Rico and being in Philadelphia.
Fans outside of the East Coast would prefer to see Berlanga fight someone a little younger than the 38-year-old Rosado next. Rosado's 17 defeats make it difficult to take him and this fight seriously. This strengthens the argument that the former #1 touted Berlanga is just a manufactured hype job created to sell tickets in the New York area.
It will be even more interesting for fans outside the New York area if Berlanga fights one of these contenders next:
– Oslis Iglesias
– Caleb plant
– Christian Mbele
-Diego Pacheco
– Eric Bazinian
-Bruno Sorace
