Whomever you think is the top dog at 168 pounds, Edgar Berlanga wants him.

At one point, the 28-year-old had more options than he could imagine. Former world champions Caleb Plant, Jaime Munguia and William Scull all made sense as possible opponents. But each of those names had a damaging hiccup.

Plant suffered a 12-round upset defeat by Jose Armando Resendiz on May 31 in a matchup expected to clear a path for an autumn showdown with another returning former titleholder.

Munguia avenged his own Upset of The Year frontrunner in 2024 with a gruelling 12-round decision win over France's Bruno Surace earlier that month but has since been dealing with the after-effects of testing positive for exogenous origin of testosterone metabolites.

Scull meanwhile, won the proverbial jackpot in securing an undisputed title fight against Canelo Alvarez but looked listless en route to a forgettable 12-round points loss.

With those contenders seemingly out of the mix, Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) likes the thought of facing Jermall Charlo. The former two-division champ looked good on the Plant-Resendiz undercard, stopping Thomas LaManna in six rounds after another lengthy inactive period.

If Charlo seeks a second fight before 2025 concludes and the man opposite him will not be Plant as first thought, Berlanga believes they can make it happen.

"If Jermall is there, we can fight him in December," Berlanga told The Ring recently.

Fighting Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs) sounds like fun, but Berlanga knows he can't get to ahead of himself. He welcomes Hamzah Sheeraz to the super middleweight division in the headline attraction of a stacked "Ring III" card from Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

For several years, Berlanga has been heavily criticised for the low-level opposition he's regularly faced. That narrative somewhat changed when stepping up to challenge Alvarez in September 2024. Although that lopsided 12-round decision loss saw him revert back to type, blasting out overmatched challenger Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz in a round on March 15.

However, the former title challenger has big plans for himself and hopes 2025 is his best year yet - assuming he produces a career-best display against Sheeraz.

"I wanna finish this year with a bang after I scrape this dude," Berlanga continued. "That's what I want to do."