Berlanga’s Meltdown: Missed Weight, Flu Excuse, And ‘Big Bag’ Bluster Expose Cracks In Super Middleweight Facade

Edgar Berlanga failed to make weight today, coming in at 169 1/2 pounds at the weigh-in for his ten-round co-feature fight against Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz for this Saturday night on March 15th at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.

(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)

Light Heavy?

This is a clear sign that Berlanga needs to move up to light heavyweight [175] because he reportedly rehydrated to 193 for his last fight. He needs to fight in a weight class that he can make. Understandably, he doesn’t want to move up to 175 because that’s where all the killers are. The light heavyweight division is filled with talented fighters who would destroy a limited guy like Berlanga, and his career would be over almost immediately.

Even with a protective promotional company like Top Rank or Matchroom, they couldn’t do much with Edgar if he were competing at light heavyweight. There are too many good fighters for them to maneuver Berlanga around them all.

Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) claims he had the flu, and knew he wouldn’t be able to make weight but chose to stay on the card. However, he’s been looking heavy for months, seemingly celebrating his loss to super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez last September.

Revealing that he’s been battling the flu could benefit Berlanga if he loses to Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1, 16 KOs) or if he struggles to win. Still, it’s a bad look for him to miss weight by 1.6 lbs as he’s about to become a free agent. Saturday is the super middleweight contender Berlanga’s final fight of his contract with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom company, and he says he wants to sign with a different promoter or network to make “the big bag.”

If you’re a promoter, you have to look at Berlanga’s colossal size for the 168-lb division, his one-sided loss to Canelo, and his weak resume and conclude that he’s not someone who will be useful for fights against top-level opposition at super middleweight. That’s if he can even make weight.

He’ll be suitable for one single fight against one of the contenders, which he’ll likely lose badly, and then it’s over. Berlanga is the type that has to be matched against weak opposition, the way Top Rank was doing and how Hearn maneuvered him.

Warrior or Weak?

“People don’t know but I had the flu. I was struggling with my health, and I knew at a certain point, I couldn’t do it,” said Edgar Berlanga to Fighthype, explaining why he missed weight today, coming in 1.6 lbs over the 168-lb limit for his chief support fight against Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz this Saturday night in Orlando.

Having the flu doesn’t explain why Berlanga has been looking like a cruiserweight since his loss to Canelo last September. He’s always been big, but he looks like he filled out after that defeat.

“Everybody that’s out there, they know I take this sport very serious, especially with my health. There’s nothing to say. We’re still getting the fight on. I want to say to my fans that the other is not what it is. We could have pulled out of the fight if we wanted to based on my health situation. I’m a warrior, bro.

“I’m just going to go out there and make the show happen. I had a lot of fans come out here, buy tickets, and plane tickets, flights, coming from Puerto Rico. We’re going to put on tomorrow. Tune in tomorrow. You’re going to see what happens.

“He’s got something to prove. Look what happened to Munguia,” said Berlanga about his little known 35-year-old opponent, Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz, who looked in woeful physical condition today at the weigh-in, sporting a dad’s body. “That can’t be us on March 15th,” said Berlanga.