Comments Thread For: Arum on Berlanga: He Was Determined to Proceed at a Pace We Don't Think He's Ready For

[N!Ck F.]

Berlanga is garbage. He’s been knocked out in the amateurs, knocked out in sparring, dropped as a pro…”next Puerto Rican star” LOL Pritchard Colon has a better chance of that.

I saw the video of Berlanga getting DESTROYED by 154 pound Erikson Lubin in sparring and knew at that moment he’s trash.

[BoxingParadigm]

Surprised TopRank didn't catch him out.

[PETUFF]

I think he is okay but need a better trainer like Roach ,but i think he has fight better opposition than Mungia duh, he wants big fights that's all.

[Rebelrbg]

Actually, I commend Berlanga for taking himself out of a situation where he would be the next trash collector like Mungia. If he has that belief in himself, then he needs to surround himself with a proper team that believes in him even more, and makes sure to mix every bit of natural talent he has with topnotch training to get him to the level of success envisioned. I would rather him take a loss, and learn what the next level takes, than to bloat his resume full of sparring partners and never progress.

[Sheikh]

I thought it was the other way around

[richardt]

Gotta say his management was brilliant in crafting the right opponents to get to so many 1st round KO's in a row. That was brilliant....until it wasn't anymore. Those KO's opened eyes for many (not for fans who have been around for more than a minute) and launched him into the spotlight and then it came down. I will say that his determination kept him from some opponent taking him out in the deep blue and drowning him as they say, to this point. The fact that he went the distance and still won was a surprise....but the fact is, he just does not have elite skills. But sometimes a fighter like him catches an elite fighter on the perfect spot on the chin and then has overnight success. Not often, but Mayorga is a perfect example with Forrest, then losing to everyone at the top. I never would have thought Forrest would beat the elite Mosley and then get knocked out by a crude puncher like Mayorga.

[deathofaclown]

They know he’s not that good, that’s why they happily let him go. What’s the alternative? Keep him and rush him like he wants, probably lose money on him while he gets knocked out against a decent level fighter.

once he started fighting guys in the top 100 on boxrec, he started struggling

Top Rank wanted to keep him on undercards because they know his level is just someone to fill space on a card and would pay him for that level. He wanted bigger money and bigger fights and Bob knows it’s a waste of money

Nothing to do with career path. Top Rank just didn’t wanna invest in someone that they know isn’t good enough to recoup.

[Wacked_Out]

They ran out of guys who agreed to take a dive. Turns out there was only 16 of those.

[Combat Talk Radio]

Bud had a contract with a guaranteed minimum (I believe it was $3mil per fight) which obviously wasn’t a good investment for TR. they’re trying not to repeat the same mistake.

Ok but, again, it's not like Crawford was getting outboxed by a Steve Rolls-level opponent.

My point is, how can Crawford justify a racism lawsuit when he was handed a golden goose?

If I were advising Bum****a, I'd sue and point at Crawford's Top Rank deal and Arum's interview . It's like, "judge, they straight allowed this guy to fight scrubs for guaranteed $3 million each, so why do I get denied that same deal? Isn't that racism too?"

[paulf]

Translation: “We make a lot of money exploiting Puerto Rican fans with our marketing. We know guys like Berlanga and Xayas aren’t world champions level, but we tell audiences that they are and proceed to have them fill the small room at the garden year in and year out…. lining our pockets matching them against bums.

Berlanga wants to step up, but we don’t believe in any of our Puerto Rican fighters and we’d rather release them than have them be exposed on our cards.”