Is Edgar Berlanga The Most-Hated Boxer?

Edgar Berlanga is becoming the most hated man in boxing, so the question is, why?

Berlanga is preparing for his next fight, as he will face Hamzah Sheeraz on the undercard of Shakur Stevenson vs. Williams Zepeda. Berlanga has only suffered one defeat in his career, a unanimous decision loss against Canelo Alvarez. He bounced back from the defeat with a victory against Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz. However, Berlanga has ruffled a few feathers in the boxing world. 

Berlanga’s Image

This started when he was seen traveling to Mexico, celebrating in the aftermath of the Canelo loss. That rubbed people up the wrong way since it was seen as celebrating the fact he went 12 rounds with Canelo. Berlanga never looked like he was winning that fight, while he referred to Alvarez as his idol in his post fight comments. 

Berlanga even suggested that he had done enough to deserve a rematch, earning backlash from many boxing fans who are desperate to see Canelo face other names such as David Benavidez. Oscar De La Hoya came out vocally to slam Berlanga’s performance.

Berlanga has also been accused of alienating Eddie Hearn. This was after Canelo secured a fight with William Scull, who was then the IBF Super Middleweight Champion. The bout enabled Canelo to become undisputed for a second time, as he would go down in the history books. However, Berlanga did not take that well since he wanted the Canelo rematch.

Berlanga On Hearn

“I’m 100 percent upset with [Hearn]. I don’t think it’s cool. It’s disrespectful to me and my fans. My fans are everything to me. They are the ones who make us rich buying tickets and pay per views … I’m upset with [Hearn] because we had good business. I never did anything to backdoor him. I feel that we should have made the contract for the March 8 fight happen, regardless of free agency,” Berlanga said

Alvarez’s four-fight deal with the Saudis meant his opportunities for bigger fights lay elsewhere. He will now face Terence Crawford in September in an Undisputed Super Middleweight Title fight. Meanwhile, there are also suggestions he could box in the UK against Chris Eubank Jr. in 2026. That leaves Berlanga down the pecking order, while he did not help himself during his conduct in the face-off against Sheeraz.