NEW YORK – Eddie Hearn envisions a logical next step for his unbeaten super middleweight.
However, it would have to come at the expense of working through his entertaining war of words with Hall of Fame former six-division titlist and current Golden Boy Promotions head Oscar De La Hoya.
Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga Jr. prevailed by way of unanimous decision over Jason Quigley in his first fight under Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing banner. The popular Nuyorican scored four knockdowns to win by scores of 118-106, 116-108 and 116-108 in his DAZN debut Saturday evening at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City.
The feat came two weeks after Tijuana’s Munguia (42-0, 33KOs) edged Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the leading Fight of the Year contender this past June 10 in Ontario, California. Munguia dropped Derevyanchenko in the 12th and final round, which was the difference between his narrow unanimous decision win and a split decision defeat.
With both now fighting on DAZN and on the same general schedule, a head-on collision would be the natural course of progression.
“Edgar Berlanga-Jaime Munguia is a great fight,” Hearn said immediately after Berlanga’s win. “Puerto Rico, Mexico. This was a very important fight (for Berlanga), a year out of the ring.
“Gennadiy Golovkin, Jaime Munguia, John Ryder, Billy Joe Saunders. These are the fights he’s gonna be in.”
Hearn is now the sole promoter for Berlanga, who parted ways with Top Rank earlier this year and subsequently signed with Matchroom. Munguia is co-promoted by Zanfer Boxing and Golden Boy, though the continued online feud with Hearn by the latter could prove problematic in negotiating such a fight.
“#lonesomeEddie you couldn’t deliver Edgar Berlanga to Canelo [Alvarez] and now [you’re] throwing Munguia’s name,” De La Hoya mockingly asked in a tweet moments after the fight. “Good luck.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox