Trash-talking is something
Edgar Berlanga specializes in, but even he's had enough.
"I just wanna hurt him," Berlanga told DAZN during a recent interview.
There's no secret who he's talking about.
Hamzah Sheeraz will make his super middleweight debut when the Briton stands across Berlanga at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York, on Saturday night headlining "Ring III."
From when their matchup was originally announced, Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) has poked Sheeraz, antagonized him and called him easy work.
"Easy" is the exact word that can be used to describe his last trip to the ring. On March 15, at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, Berlanga barely broke a sweat
against Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz before a first-round finish. A few weeks prior, Sheeraz found himself engaged in a back-and-forth battle against WBC middleweight champion
Carlos Adames, eventually settling for a
controversial 12-round split decision draw.
Berlanga's personality can come off as hubris and maybe even arrogance. And while he doesn't normally care what people have to say about him, the 28-year-old wants even detractors to know that he isn't full of himself, either.
For the highly ranked 168-pounder, it's all about proving himself on the biggest and brightest stages. The platform afforded to him by The Ring, along with the caliber of fighter Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) is, acts as the perfect storm. The way Berlanga sees things, all eyes will be on him and that's exactly how he wants it.
"I wanna go in there and perform," he said. "I wanna show the world who I am."