Edgar Berlanga says he wants the IBF title “badly” in 2025 and is targeting super middleweight champion William Scholl this year.

Canelo is the pipe dream

Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) already plans to quickly capture the IBF title from Scall and use the belt as bait to get a rematch against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

Berlanger is thick $10 million payday That fight was excellent, especially since he didn't have to take any risky fights to earn a title shot. He should be happy with that money because he won't get a second chance to fight Canelo, even if he doesn't capture the IBF belt.

If Berlanga were to win that belt, he would immediately be stuck defending it against a top contender like Oles Iglesias, and he would lose it right away.

It's doubtful the Mexican superstar will be interested in fighting Berlanga again so soon, if at all. He will receive criticism for fighting a weak, unqualified Brooklyn, New York native a second time.

Rehydration roadblocks

Even if Berlanga were to fight for the IBF title, the 10-pound rehydration rule would sink his chances of winning the belt. While rehydrating into the 190s, he couldn't make it down to 178 for the secondary weigh-in on fight day. Barlanga was reportedly rehydrated 193 For his fight against Canelo. At that size, he should compete at light heavyweight.

Last September, Berlanga, 27, lost a comprehensive 12-round unanimous decision to Canelo at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

score

118–109
118–109
117–110

“I want that IBF title so bad!!!! World Champion 2025!! I'm going to slip skull 🇵🇷🇵🇷,” said Edgar Berlanga X About wanting to challenge IBF super middleweight champion William Scholl for his belt.

Leapfrogging again?

Boxing fans on social media are not in favor of a world title shot against IBF champion Skull. It would send the wrong message to fans that Berlanga can leapfrog top contenders to get repeated world title shots without earning them.

Here's what Berlanger should battle these contenders to earn a title shot this time instead of being handed to him on a silver platter:

Caleb Plant
Osley Iglesias
Diego Pacheco
Christian Mbili
Bektemir Melikujev
Jaime Munguia

Berlanga ranks #4 WBA, #4 WBO and #6 WBC. Not ranked in the International Boxing Federation's top 15, it's best to fight for one of the other three belts. However, for Berlanga to put himself in a position to mandate the WBA, WBC and WBO belts, he needs to fight either Plant, Iglesias, Mbili or Pacheco.

In other words, fighters who will likely defeat him easily. But if Berlanga goes after the IBF belt with a weak scalp, he'll hold the key to a well-paying rematch against Canelo. It would be a smart move on Berlanga's part, but it's doubtful he'll get a second fight with Canelo. The backlash from fans will be severe for the Mexican star, who doesn't want to deal with it.