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Mike CoppingerESPN
Edgar Berlanga has agreed to terms on a two-fight plan with Top Rank, the boxer told ESPN on Thursday.
The first bout comes Oct. 9 in Las Vegas against Marcelo Esteban Coceres, Berlanga said, in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing show on an ESPN platform that will lead into the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III pay-per-view.
Berlanga’s second fight is Dec. 11, the co-feature to Vasiliy Lomachenko’s return in New York at MSG. An opponent has yet to be finalized for that bout. The power-punching super middleweight Berlanga is in the midst of a multiyear deal with Top Rank; financial terms were finalized for both of his upcoming fights.
“I’m knocking these guys in October and December; we’re not going to the scorecards,” said Berlanga (17-0, 16 KOs). “I want to let the world know after these two fights that I’m the guy they need to worry about.”
The 24-year-old Berlanga was extended the distance for the first time in his last bout, an April win over Demond Nicholson. It was the first time Berlanga heard the bell to signal the start of Round 2 in his pro career. He scored first-round knockouts in each of his first 16 fights.
Berlanga dropped Nicholson three times but settled for the unanimous-decision victory. The Brooklynite will now face another durable opponent in Coceres (30-2-1, 16 KOs). The 30-year-old Argentine is best-known for an 11th-round KO loss to Billy Joe Saunders in a 2019 title fight. That was his only fight outside Argentina.
In January, Coceres lost again, this time a split-decision loss to Sebastian Horacio Papeschi in Argentina. He rebounded with a second-round stoppage win in June.
The two-fight plan promises to give Berlanga his greatest exposure yet as he inches closer to title contention. Despite 17 pro fights, he remains inexperienced with just 24 rounds in the professional ranks.
If all goes according to plan, Berlanga will return in March in Puerto Rico (the country his family hails from) before headlining at Madison Square Garden in June on Puerto Rican Parade Day Weekend.