Edgar Berlanga misses weight for first fight since Canelo Alvarez loss: 'Damn, man — I can't do it'
Berlanga tipped the scales at 169.6 pounds in his first attempt at Friday's weigh-in ahead of his WBO NABO super middleweight title bout with Jonathon Gonzalez-Ortiz. Gonzalez-Ortiz successfully made the 168-pound maximum, weighing in at 167.4 pounds.
"People don't know, right, but I had the flu," Berlanga said to FightHype about missing weight. "I was struggling with my health, and I knew that at a certain point, I was like, 'Damn, man — I can't do it.'"
Berlanga vs. Gonzalez-Ortiz will still go ahead on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, but Berlanga will be ineligible to win the title. Should he emerge victorious, the belt will become vacant.
Berlanga vs. Gonzalez-Ortiz is the co-feature of a DAZN-streamed fight card headlined by the Austin "Ammo" Williams (17-1, 12 KOs) vs. Patrice Volny (19-1, 13 KOs) middleweight contest. Elsewhere on the show, 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Omari Jones makes his professional debut at welterweight against Alessio Mastronunzio (14-5, 4 KOs), and Jamaine Ortiz (18-2-1, 9 KOs) faces Yomar Alamo (22-3-1, 13 KOs) in a super lightweight bout.
Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) was last in action this past September when he challenged Saul "Canelo" Alvarez for the WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles. Berlanga extended Alvarez the 12-round distance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas but ultimately lost a lopsided decision on the scorecards.
Saturday's bout represents Berlanga's final fight as part of his contract with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing on Saturday. He will then enter free agency in the summer, likely targeting big fights with Caleb Plant, Jermall Charlo and Jaime Munguia.
Berlanga has expressed his disappointment at being on the undercard of a relatively smaller show coming off a fight with the sport's biggest star, Alvarez. He blames Hearn's Matchroom for what he has described as a "disrespectful" move.
Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1, 16 KOs) had two fights in 2024, a pair of knockouts over Jose Saint-Hilaire Gil and Edward Ulloa Diaz, which ended a 10-year hiatus from the sport. Gonzalez-Ortiz, 35, represented Puerto Rico at the 2008 Olympics.
He fought to a draw with former super welterweight world champion Serhiy Dzinziruk in 2012 and has a win over Derek Ennis — the brother of IBF welterweight champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis. Ten years on and two weight divisions up, it is no surprise that he is such a big underdog (+950 per BetMGM) against Berlanga.
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