Possible Berlanga vs. Rosado clash for Puerto Rico

Gabe Rosado is excited about a possible fight with former super middleweight world title contender Edgar Berlanga next year in Puerto Rico.

New York native Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) and Rosado are of Puerto Rican descent but were born in the United States. They are expected to fight next on the Island in what would be a Matchroom Boxing promoted card on DAZN.

19-year-old pro Rosado (26-17-1, 15 KOs) hasn't won a fight in four years since his upset third-round knockout victory over Bektemir Melikuziev on June 19, 2021.

Berlanga suffered his first professional defeat, losing to 168 lb unified champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14 in Las Vegas. It was pretty one-sided for the most part, but the 27-year-old Berlanga made it competitive with his sheer size. He reportedly rehydrated 193 pounds after weighing 167 3/4 lbs.

That's a 25.25 lb weight gain after rehydration. Canelo dropped Berlanga in the third round, but then seemed to let his foot off the gas instead of going for the knockout. Some people believe that Canelo wore Berlanga.

They felt Alvarez didn't want to be criticized for knocking out the Brooklyn, N.Y. native because he had already been mocked for picking him over more proven fighters like David Benavidez and David Morrell.

The results

118-109
117-110
118-109

Fans would prefer Berlanga to fight a real contender rather than 38-year-old journeyman Rosado for his next fight, but it would be too risky to put him with a top 15 guy. Berlanga is already talking about a quick win and then fighting with Jaime Munguia to get a rematch with Canelo.

It may take more than beating 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 this fight was $3 million and he probably made extra money from the PPV. It generated a reported 650,000 purchases. Those are excellent numbers.

“For me, it's a fight that's a dream fight, just because I've never fought in Puerto Rico,” Gabe Rosado told Mill City Boxing for his potential fight with New York's Edgar Berlanga in 2025. in Puerto Rico. “I've been living in Puerto Rico for half a year. I have a house there. So I'm always there.

“I'm telling you, it's going to put another battery in my back. You have legends like Cotto, Tito (Trinidad and Amanda Serrano. It's so good for the sport. Puerto Rican boxing is getting back on the map because you have so much talent now.

“You have Berlanga and you have the vet, Gabe Rosado. To put us in PR, the island will love it. You have two Boricuas from the States going back to Puerto Rico,” Rosado said of him and Berlanga. “It's going to be history, it's going to be a dope event. There's no real difference between being in Puerto Rico and being in Philly.”

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 losses make it hard to take him and this fight seriously. This strengthens the argument that the former top-promoted Berlanga is simply a fictional publicity stunt created to sell tickets in the New York area.

It would be more interesting for fans outside of the New York area if Berlanga fights one of these contenders next time:

– Osley Iglesias
– Caleb Plant
– Christian Mbili
– Diego Pacheco
– Eric Bazinyan
– Bruno Souras