NEW YORK – A shot at Canelo Alvarez is the obvious goal for any fighter in and around the super middleweight division.

It wasn’t the end game for Edgar Berlanga, nor was it the sole reason he signed with Matchroom Boxing.

This past Saturday marked the first step on a new journey for the unbeaten Nuyorican, who outpointed Ireland’s Jason Quigley (20-3, 14KOs) over twelve rounds at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Brooklyn’s Berlanga scored four knockdowns en route to a unanimous decision win on DAZN, which previously housed Alvarez until the undisputed super middleweight champion confirmed a forthcoming multi-fight deal with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).

Alvarez revealed two days prior to Berlanga-Quigley that his next fight will take place in September on Showtime Pay-Per-View.

“The timing of the Canelo deal will allow [Berlanga] to have the type of fights people want to see to prove his worth,” Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn told BoxingScene.com and other reporters. “This is going to open the door to other fights. It’s going to be interesting. 

It was agreed by all involved parties upon Berlanga signing with Matchroom earlier this spring that he would need at least two high-profile wins before he could earn the right to campaign for a shot at Mexico’s Alvarez (59-2-2, 39KOs). That point was emphasized repeatedly by Hearn from the day he signed the popular super middleweight contender and throughout fight week.

That same long-term vision is shared by Berlanga (21-0, 16KOs) who had his own hit list of future options that didn’t include the divisional king.

“[Canelo] signed a three-fight deal with PBC. So, it was like, “Aright, what the f--- are we gonna do,” Berlanga noted before revealing exactly what his team plans to do. “We got guys like Munguia, Golovkin, John Ryder that we can make quickly.”

Berlanga and Ryder are both promoted by Matchroom Boxing. The global promotional outfit also has a relationship with inactive former two-division titlist Billy Joe Saunders, who has inserted himself into the conversation.

Munguia is with Golden Boy Promotions and Zanfer Boxing but fights exclusively on his DAZN through that promotional alignment. Kazakhstan’s Golovkin is self-promoted but has fought on DAZN and its Pay-Per-View arm in each of his past five fights, three of the past four which involved Matchroom in the promotion.

“Jamie Munguia, Gennadiy Golovkin… there will be an investment from DAZN to fill that void in the schedule," Hearn stated. "It’s not just one night, it will be multiple nights. Edgar Berlanga will be a part of it. 

"Munguia, John Ryder—Billy Joe Saunders has even been calling him out, or the Gennadiy Golovkin fight. All those fights are possible.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox