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Edgar Berlanga Belittles Oscar De La Hoya At Farcical Final Press Conference To Promote 'Ring III'
ARTICLE
Keith Idec
Keith Idec
RingMagazine.com
Edgar Berlanga Belittles Oscar De La Hoya At Farcical Final Press Conference To Promote 'Ring III'
NEW YORK – Edgar Berlanga's bag was as full of props Thursday as his heart was full of hate for Oscar De La Hoya.

The super middleweight contender called "The Golden Boy" every curse word imaginable during a farcical final press conference to promote "Ring III," a DAZN Pay-Per-View show Brooklyn's Berlanga will headline against England's Hamzah Sheeraz on Saturday night at Louis Armstrong Stadium in nearby Queens.

As if continuously insulting De La Hoya and giving him the finger weren't enough, an angry Berlanga opened his designer bag, pulled out a women's wig, high heels, panties and stacks of dollar bills and threw them at the unsuspecting promoter.

"I got a [expletive] gift for my little [expletive] stripper," Berlanga yelled at De La Hoya. "Remember this [expletive]? Remember that [expletive]?"

A boorish Berlanga referred to infamous photos of De La Hoya dressed in women’s underwear, fishnets and high heels, while wearing a wig. De La Hoya, who has been open about abusing cocaine and alcohol, believes he was set up by two women who tried to extort him when those embarrassing photos were taken in 2007.

Berlanga's behavior was crass even by boxing's low standards, but De La Hoya mostly took Berlanga's barrage of insults in stride.

"First of all, sit down," De La Hoya yelled back at Berlanga. "You have no world titles. You have no world titles. … After you win one world title, you can talk to me."

De La Hoya, 52, won world titles in six weight classes, a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and is generally regarded as one of the best boxers of his generation. The East Los Angeles native was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014.

The long-retired De La Hoya's promotional company represents William Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs), the Mexican southpaw who will challenge WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) in the 12-round co-feature Saturday night. Sheeraz is promoted by Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions.

Berlanga's beef with De La Hoya stems from when Golden Boy Promotions attempted to sign Berlanga to a contract when he was a free agent. They have taken turns taunting each other on social media and Berlanga threatened in recent weeks to slap De La Hoya the next time he saw him in person.

Berlanga, 28, moved toward De La Hoya on the dais Thursday, though they were quickly separated by security personnel at Hard Rock Café New York in Times Square.

"This guy's not even Puerto Rican," De La Hoya exclaimed. "I been asking for your Puerto Rican passport. Where is it at? Where is your Puerto Rican passport? I'm more Puerto Rican than you!"

Berlanga insulted Sheeraz as well, yet those comments were tame compared to the tirade he unleashed on De La Hoya. Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) is a slight favorite to beat Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) in what will be the Brit's debut at the 168-pound super middleweight limit.

Turki Alalshikh has stated Sheeraz would become a potential opponent for Canelo Alvarez if Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) defeats Berlanga and Alvarez beats Terence Crawford on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Mexico's Alvarez is the only opponent who has beaten Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs), who lost a unanimous decision to boxing's undisputed super middleweight champ last September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

De La Hoya belittled Berlanga for what he considers bragging about a one-sided decision defeat to Alvarez, another adversary who De La Hoya's company used to promote.

"You're having a parade for losing to Canelo," De La Hoya said. "Come on! Come on, man!"

Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.

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