Edgar Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) says if he doesn’t knock out Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1, 16 KOs) in their 10-round fight next month on March 15th, he will retire and work at Walmart. The event will be shown live on DAZN. Berlanga is fighting the 35-year-old Gonzalez-Ortiz in a rebuild on the undercard of Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams vs. Patrice Volny at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
Walmart or Win?
For Berlanga to be even joking about retirement, it’s got to be crossing his mind after his poor performance in his loss to Canelo Alvarez last September. He may realize now that there won’t be a rematch because he would have to work his way to the spot by actually beating the top contenders.
He didn’t do that last time. Even if Berlanga did slice through the top contenders, beating Diego Pacheco, Christian Mbilli, and Osleys Iglesias, Canelo won’t fight him again. He got one fight and a big $10 million payday, and there won’t be another.
Canelo gave Berlanga a free title shot and didn’t care that his resume was filled with sub-level opposition from top to bottom. He got the title fight based on his popularity in Brooklyn and Puerto Rico.
Payday Reality
Edgar is fighting on the undercard in this fight. If that’s how it’s going to be for him from now on, you can’t blame him if he does retire. He won’t get the same money he was collecting headling. This is the first time that Berlanga hasn’t been a headliner in four years since 2021.
He’d been a main event fighter in his last five fights, and it’s going to be a disappointment for him to be off the top spot. You can understand it, though. Berlanga doesn’t rate being in the headliner if he’s fighting Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz. If he fought someone good, like Diego Pacheco, Hearn would help him out, but it would be a bad fight for him because he would likely lose.
Berlanga’s career is on thin ice, no matter how good he looks against this guy. He’s not capable of beating the top fighters in the 168-lb division. At best, he can get another payday if his promoter, Eddie Hearn, can set him up in a fight against Jaime Munguia.
If Berlanga isn’t talented enough to hang with the top fighters at 168 or 175, his career will be over soon. After tasting the Canelo Alvarez money, he won’t want to stick around and collect smaller paydays against no-name opposition like he’s been fighting.
IF I DON’T KNOCK HIM OUT I WILL QUIT BOXING AND WORK IN WALMART
— Edgar Berlanga Jr (@EdgarBerlangaJr) February 26, 2025
