Edgar Berlanga is back in the conversation, but not for the reasons he might be wishing for. You see, unlike Daniel Dubois, who was written off by the entire boxing community against Anthony Joshua, ‘The Chosen One’ failed his prove to greatness against Canelo Alvarez earlier in September in Las Vegas. 

However, despite that loss, the 27-year-old is making some bold claims on social media. What did he say with his newfound fame? Well, the Brooklyn-born super middleweight boxer claimed he would happily walk into a ring against Joshua, who just suffered a shocking knockout defeat at the hands of ‘DDD’ in Wembley last weekend.

Edgar Berlanga reveals his weight for a potential Anthony Joshua fight

Late Wednesday, three days after the Joshua vs. Dubois fight, ‘The Chosen One’ hopped on X to write, “I would love to go up to heavyweight and fight Anthony Joshua just to test greatness. Nothing bad towards this. I’ll walk in the ring 210lbs.” To put this weight jump into perspective, the heavyweight division starts at over 200 pounds.

Berlanga weighed in at 167¾ pounds for the Canelo Alvarez fight, though rumors suggest he was significantly heavier on fight night. Still, to step into the heavyweight division, he’d need to gain over 33 pounds—and more importantly, keep his agility intact to stand a chance against someone like Joshua.

Historically, fighters moving up to face elite-level opponents in higher divisions rarely see success. Even a well-rounded fighter like Terence Crawford struggled when he faced Israil Madrimov after moving up in weight. So, it didn’t take long for the boxing community to mock Berlanga for what many saw as an outlandish statement.

Fan predicts Edgar Berlanga vs. Jaime Munguia/Caleb Plant

Berlanga truly got the worst of Canelo Alvarez during their fight earlier this month, as ‘The Chosen One’ had managed to get on Canelo’s bad side because of Berlanga’s remarks in the lead-up to the fight. It led this user to conclude that Berlanga’s desire to square off against a heavyweight was a direct result of the beating he took to the head from Canelo. “dat cte kickin in,” the user wrote. CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a progressive brain condition that is caused by repeated blows to the head.

Another user outright branded Berlanga’s ambition as unrealistic. “Seems unrealistic, but good luck,” commented the user. Notably, Berlanga has never fought above super middleweight in his professional career. 

This user roped in Canelo’s prior opponents, Jaime Munguia and Caleb Plant. The user’s comment read, “😂😂😂 sit down bro — you cant even beat munguia or plant.” Following his loss to Canelo, many in the community believe that Berlanga’s next fight should be against one of the two fighters. 

Meanwhile, this user took a rather polite approach to Berlanga’s statement, but the user’s opinion remained the same as others. “Love the energy, but not a good business decision. This will hurt your brand more than help it after he flatlines you G,” the user wrote. Interestingly, Berlanga isn’t the first one to come up with such an idea. Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney started boxing in middleweight but eventually found success in the heavyweight division. 

Someone else felt if Berlanga was chasing greatness, why go for the one who lost rather than the one who won? The user asked, “Why would you pick the one who just lost horribly instead of Dubois if you’re talking about ‘greatness’?” Perhaps Berlanga is rationalizing his choices after his loss to Canelo. 

That being said, it’s safe to say that the boxing world doesn’t think Edgar Berlanga should move up to heavyweight to fight Anthony Joshua. However, fighters have done it in the past, and so can he if he is serious about it. What are your thoughts on the matter?