Promoter Eddie Hearn fired back in response to Edgar Berlanga blaming him for not delivering the money to line him up for a title shot against IBF super middleweight champion William Scull, which he believed would open the door for a lucrative rematch with Canelo Alvarez.
(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing)
Hearn says Scull wanted more than the $1.5 million that Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) said he did. He says they followed the contract that they had with Berlanga. They weren’t going to pay beyond the money written in the contract with Berlanga for the final fight of his deal with Matchroom.
$12 Million Payout
Eddie says he delivered Berlanga the Canelo fight and made over $12 million in his three fights with Matchroom. All of them were headliners. Hearn says Berlanga isn’t headlining on Saturday against Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz because he agreed his fight to be on the undercard for the money offered.
Berlanga’s three fights with Matchroom
– Canelo Alvarez
– Padraig McCrory
– Jason Quigley
“It’s important to note that in our three fights with Edgar Berlanga, he headlined at Madison Square Garden against Jason Quigley. He headlined against Padraig McCrory here [Orlando, Florida], and then he headlined against Canelo Alvarez at the T-Mobile [Arena in Las Vegas],” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype about what Matchroom delivered for Edgar Berlanga in the three fights he’s been with them.
“He made over $12 million with us. We’ve completely changed his life and his career,” Hearn continued about Edgar. “What we’ve done is we’ve delivered everything we ever promised and more. We’re doing that again on Saturday night. It’s a good fight for him to get back to his winning ways and then move on to a bigger fight. If that’s with us, fantastic. We’d love to continue that relationship.”
Berlanga’s resume is unworthy of a fighter rating the kind of money that he’s made with Matchroom. Of his 22 wins, all of them have been against lesser fighters. Hearn was still able to maneuver Berlanga into a fight with Canelo without him needing to face one of the killers, like David Benavidez, David Morrell, Diego Pacheco, Caleb Plant or Chistian Mbilli. The guys that Berlanga beat to get the Alvarez fight were gawdawful.
“If it’s not, we say, ‘Good luck, Edgar. We completely delivered over and above our wildest dreams for you.’ Edgar has massive belief in his commercial starpower,” said Hearn. “A lot of fighters want to be partners or have their own promotional companies, but none of them want to put the money up on the table. None of them want to take the risk.”
Berlanga can probably sell tickets in New York, but that wouldn’t last forever if he’s unable to beat top five contenders. The dream that he has of beating someone like Jaime Munguia or Jermall Charlo to get a rematch with Canelo Alvarez is unrealistic. It’s not going to happen. Canelo will never fight him again because that’s not his style to give rematches to fighters that he blanks.
Undercard Drop
“‘Yeah, this is a partnership. In the promotional company, you’re working for me.’ ‘Okay, no problem. If the tickets don’t go very well and we lose $1 million, are you in for half?’ ‘Oh, no.’ ‘Okay, we take the risk and you want the logo on the backdrop.’ That’s how it works,” said Hearn.
“We’re doing what’s on the contract [with Berlanga]. We didn’t ask for an undercard slot. They did because they agreed to a certain amount of money, and they said, ‘That’s not a headline fight. That’s an undercard fight. So, we’ll just fight on an undercard in the comeback fight.’ I said, ‘Okay,’ and we move forward. He got an absolute fortune to fight Canelo Alvarez.
“What he needs to do is switch on because this isn’t going to be a gimme [Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz], this fight. This is a tough kid. It’s a chance for him to change his life. If you start thinking with your head all over the place. What you can’t afford is to look bad in this fight, and what you definitely cannot do is lose in this fight,” said Hearn.
Last Updated on 03/14/2025
