Carlos Adames already has a first target in mind for his pending move up in weight.
The reigning WBC middleweight titlist has openly targeted a fight with former title challenger Edgar Berlanga for his first official fight as a super middleweight. Adames called out the brash New Yorker on social media in response to Berlanga’s declaration that “hunting season” has begun despite the absence of a confirmed fight date or opponent.
“Are you still at 168 so I can show you how it’s done?” Adames openly questioned in response to a video of Berlanga training at the ProBox TV gym in Plant City, Florida.
Adames, 25-1-1 (18 KOs), defended his WBC 160lbs title in a dominant win over Austin “Ammo” Williams last Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The fight was delayed by nearly two months after Adames was hospitalized just days ahead of their originally scheduled January 31 clash in New York City.
There was wide speculation at the time that Adames was struggling to make middleweight and that he would ultimately vacate his title. The hard-hitting Dominican dispelled those rumors when he easily made weight and subsequently manhandled the credible Williams, all while looking very comfortable at middleweight.
Still, it appears that the bout will be his last at the weight. Adames has aspirations of becoming a multi-division champ and has all but given up on the prospects of being able to unify the belts at 160lbs.
“I make 160 very easily, but I’ll make 168 shake even more – here I come,” Adames previously stated via social media. “Tell 168 that ‘Bronco’ has arrived.
“There were many names that ran from 160 and moved up in weight, but now I’m going to catch up to them.”
It’s worth noting that Berlanga not only didn’t acknowledge Adames’ callout, but – BoxingScene has learned – is fielding multiple lucrative offers as he explores the free-agent market.
There is an attractive element to this theoretical Puerto Rico-Dominican showdown, if only from that perspective. Berlanga is a “Nuyorican” from Brooklyn, while Adames – born and raised in D.R. – now resides in New York City’s Dominican-heavy Washington Heights neighborhood.
Berlanga, 23-2 (18 KOs), hasn’t fought since a July 12 knockout defeat to Hamzah Sheeraz in Queens, New York. It was his second in-ring setback in a span of three fights; he previously dropped a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision to then-unified super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez atop a September 2024 pay-per-view event from Las Vegas.
Adames has his own history with Sheeraz. Many considered him unlucky to have settled for a draw in their February 2025 WBC 160lbs title fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Adames was credited with a successful title defense, though he was cheated out of a deserved win.
A move up to 168lbs will mark a career-heaviest weight for the 31-year-old Adames, whose 2015 pro debut came at welterweight. He previously campaigned at 154lbs, where he suffered his lone career defeat – a 12-round decision to Patrick Teixeira in their November 2019 interim WBO title fight.
The forthcoming move to 168lbs will leave Adames at 2-0-1 (0 KOs) in major title fights, all at 160lbs. He first won the interim version of the WBC middleweight title in a third-round knockout of Juan Macias Montiel. One successful defense of the secondary trinket followed before Adames was upgraded to full titlist ahead of his June 2024 win over Terrell Gausha.
