David Benavidez is rooting for divisional peer Edgar Berlanga to regain the momentum he once had in his career, if only to ensure that their super middleweight bout, someday down the road, will have maximum intrigue.

Berlanga, the hard-punching, Brooklyn-based Puerto Rican, has seen some of the luster come off his name in his last bout, which saw him get dropped en route to a vulnerable decision over Argentinian Marcelo Esteban Coceres in their 10-round bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the undercard of the heavyweight title rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. After making some noise in the sport as a puncher by scoring 16 straight knockouts, Berlanga has gone the distance in his last two bouts.

Benavidez, the former two-time 168-pound titlist of Mexican descent from Phoenix, wasn’t impressed by Berlanga’s last performance. He hopes Berlanga will show up in improved form on March 19, when Berlanga takes on Steve Rolls in a 10-round super middleweight bout in the main event at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“From what I’ve seen from him in his last fight – I don’t want to predict anything – he got dropped, and he wasn’t really looking too good,” Benavidez said of Berlanga in an interview with FightHype.com “He was looking for one shot. I don’t know, I guess we’ll see. I want him to get better because that’s a fighter I want for myself. I feel that’ll be a huge fight for the Mexican and Puerto Rican people. I want him to do good, and hopefully one day we can meet in the ring.”

A fight between the 25-year-old Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) and 24-year-old Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs) figures to be one of the more tantalizing bouts that can be made at 168. Of course, for that fight to pique the curiosity of the public both fighters need to continue winning and looking impressive. In this sense, Berlanga, according to Benavidez, may not exactly be doing his part.

“To be honest with you, his last fight I thought he was going to take care of it easy, but he didn’t look too good on his last fight,” Benavidez said. “I guess you just live and you learn. I feel like he’s learned from his last fight. He’s getting better. It’s up to him.”

Benavidez, a power puncher himself, says he was caught off guard by Berlanga’s knockdown in his last bout. Coceres put Berlanga on his back with a counter right hand in the ninth round of a 10-round bout. It was the first time Berlanga was knocked down in his career. Admittedly, Berlanga is probably closer to being a prospect, while Benavidez is one of the division’s elite contenders.

“I was shocked [by Berlanga’s knockdown],” Benavidez said. “I was shocked. But I was honestly more shocked at how much success the other guy was having. He was just moving around and touching up Berlanga with ease—not with ease, because his face was busted up.

“I think Berlanga gets frustrated when he doesn’t land that one shot and then he leaves himself open. He was trying to land a big shot and then he got dropped. It was a little shocking.”