Boxers always remember their first career loss and, more importantly, who handed them the loss. For Edgar Berlanga, it was the legendary five-division champion Canelo Alvarez who put an end to his undefeated run. This loss seems to have given ‘The Chosen One’ a perspective on who the real best in the division is, as he proceeded to give Canelo special treatment in his latest rant.

Back in September last year, Berlanga puffed his chest at Canelo, vowing to succeed where so many had failed before. But once the fight began, reality hit him like a truck, as Canelo cruised to a dominant, unanimous decision win. Now, the Brooklyn-born puncher is staring down the barrel of several big fights, but he claims that he doesn’t need a big name to make big fights.

After recently defeating Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz in the first round, Berlanga was linked to a fight against Caleb Plant. However, that fight seems to have fallen through, as PBC recently announced that ‘Sweethands’ would fight Jose Armando Resendiz on the same card as Jermall Charlo. A win for both would put them on a collision course later this year.

Regardless, Berlanga doesn’t seem to view these fighters as his competition. While appearing in an interview with Mr Jay Hill Network, the 27-year-old confidently claimed, “I am big enough to make any fight happen…  My name is already cemented into the boxing world. And I’m the A-Side on any fight.”

However, even by Berlanga’s own admission, his claims of being the best don’t hold up against Canelo Alvarez. “Besides Canelo, because Canelo’s the guy, he got all the belts. But besides that, Charlo, Munguia, Plant—I’m bigger than all of those guys. My name is different, bro,” he said. But the question is, how true are Berlanga’s claims?

Edgar Berlanga justifies his position as the second in command after Canelo Alvarez

‘The Chosen One’ pointed at Jaime Munguia’s latest performance against Bruno Surace, noting that Munguia got exposed after getting knocked out. As for Caleb Plant, Berlanga didn’t seem too fond of Plant’s performance against Trevor McCumby, claiming he was getting beat up by who Berlanga felt was a “bum.”

And finally, for Jermall Charlo, Berlanga doesn’t seem to think Charlo is even in the running anymore due to his lack of activity. “If you really look at it right now, I’m the biggest thing popping right now [at] 168,” he said. Berlanga highlighted that if it wasn’t for his former promoter Eddie Hearn, he would have fought William Scull and become the IBF champion. 

 It appears even the trash-talking Edgar Berlanga can’t downplay how good Canelo Alvarez is. The Mexican superstar is slated to fight William Scull in May and Terence Crawford in September. But the question is whether Berlanga is truly the number two fighter after Canelo Alvarez.