With Alan Fox: Edgar Berlanga vs. Daniel Jacobs is set for June 10 in New York. This would be the first fight for undefeated prospect Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) with his new Matchroom promoters, who are building the former Top Rank fighter towards a big payday clash against Canelo Alvarez next year.
Thaboxingvoice reports the news of 24-year-old Berlanga possibly facing 36-year-old former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs).
If Jacobs has anything left in the tank after his long career, it’s beating Berlanga. Given Jacobs’ gas tank issues, he’ll have to go all out in the first six rounds to try and knock off Berlanga before fading in the second half.
According to Eddie Hearn, Berlanga needs to put together at least two or three solid wins against quality opposition to show he deserves a Canelo fight. I’m not sure Hearn had Jacobs in mind when he talked about Berlanga trying to prove himself.
If so, that would seem to indicate that Hearn wants to make sure Berlanga lands the Canelo fight for a big payday before dumping him. Canelo will give Berlanga a hard time, as will any of the top contenders in the division.
Some boxing fans believe that Hearn won’t put Berlanga up against any good contenders because then he won’t get his money back from the contract he was given to sign with Matchroom.
Berlanga recently boasted about the huge “bag” given to him by Hearn to sign with Matchroom. Depending on how long Berlanga’s contract with Hearn is, he can’t afford to have fighters much better than he has in the past, Jacobs’ prime, because he’s going to get beat and that’s going to ruin things for Matchroom.
They will be stuck with a useless albatross and he won’t be able to do anything with him other than match him with the same type of grueling opposition that his former Top Rank promoters have been feeding him for the past seven years since turning pro in 2016.
When you see a fighter like David Benavidez having to jump hoops for years and not fight Canelo, it’s hard to see Berlanga as deserving of a payday against the Mexican star unless he beats these types of fighters at 168:
- David Morrell
- Plant Caleb
- David Benavidez
- Dimitrios Andrade
- Diego Pacheco
Having seen Berlanga fight many times, this writer does not believe he can ever beat any of these fighters because he lacks natural talent.
These guys are light years better than Berlanga, and it’s not just a matter of evolution. These guys were arguably born with more ability than Berlanga, and it’s not something that can be changed with more work from the New Yorker.
Hate to say it, but Jacobs is pretty well beaten at this stage in his career and his loss in his last fight against Jon Ryder proved that. This was a year ago in February in London. Jacobs ran out of gas after six laps and was dominated by the better conditioned Ryder over the final six laps.
What’s not clear is whether this fight will prove to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn that Berlanga has proven himself worthy of sharing the ring with superstar Canelo, because it has been reported many times that before doing this fight, Edgar he will need to win over the world. level opposition.
Jacobs is ranked #5 in the WBC at super middleweight, but this is the only organization that has him ranked in the top 15. When you look at Jacob’s resume over the past four years, it’s easy to see why the sanctioning bodies chose not to rank him because he’s beaten none other than journeyman Gabe Rosado with a controversial 12-round decision in 2020 and a frustrated Julio Chavez Jr. in 2019.