Getting to Know ... Edgar Berlanga

On Saturday, September 14, rising Puerto Rican star Edgar Berlanga will make his inaugural world title appearance when he battles Mexican legend Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for Alvarez’s unified WBA, WBC and WBO Super Middleweight World Titles at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a PBC Pay-Per-View on Prime Video (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).

Born and raised in New York City, Berlanga, 27, 22-0 (17 KOs), is eager to live up to his nickname, “The Chosen One,” and become the man to topple Canelo, adding another layer to the famed Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry in boxing. But there is much more to the brash Berlanga than meets the eye. Here’s a closer look into training camp and his life:

How is training camp going for you?

Training camp is going amazing. I mean it's hard and raw. I feel amazing, it’s going amazing. I’m up here in Boulder, Colorado, in the attitude. We’re just working. I got the whole team with me. I got my family out here. We’re working and I’m happy and excited.

What’s your training routine look like?

I wake up about 9:00 am, eat breakfast, nothing crazy big, then I’ll start my strength and conditioning, whether it’s weights or whether we are going to the track. We do that for two hours, I come back and I immediately jump into the ice bath, you know take a cold plunge for 15-20 minutes. I come out of that and I’ll do my hyperbaric chamber for about 30 minutes. I jump out of that and I’ll probably do my breathing routine that I have for the elevation. It opens up my lungs to build up more red blood cells. That’s for about another 30-35 minutes. Then, I’ll watch some film on Canelo for about an hour and do a little bit of therapy. I have my PT here with me so we work on stuff that was from the last training session that we did and then I’ll obviously eat and sleep for about an hour and a half or two. I’ll get up, have a protein drink and straight to the boxing gym and be in the boxing gym for about another four hours and do the same thing over and over.

What song have you been listening to the most this camp?

There’s a song with Chris Tomlin called ‘Our God.’ It’s a Christian song, it’s worshiping the lord. So that’s one of the songs I’ve been playing every day in the gym and stuff. You know, just getting me right.

What’s the first meal you want to have when training camp is over?

I want a Chick-fil-A sandwich. I want pizza. I want french fries. I want chicken wings, like hot buffalo chicken wings, and a lot of Coca-Cola.

Is that your favorite meal of all time?

No, it’s pizza. But not just any kind of pizza. It has to be a New York Style pizza with a lot of Coca Cola.

“ One thing on my bucket list is becoming the undisputed champion in the 168-pound division. ” Undefeated Super Middleweight Contender - Edgar Berlanga

What is your favorite activity when you aren’t preparing for a fight?

I don’t think I have a favorite activity. It’s more running, I’ll say running because with a long distance run, I can just play my music. Especially when I’m by myself. I zone out and think about the fight, think about the future and I’ll just go for hours.

What was life like growing up in NYC?

It was hard, it was rough. Scary sometimes, you know going out and seeing a lot of things like shootouts, but it’s just a beautiful city. New York is a big city. You experience so much there. They say that if you make it there you can make it anywhere in the world because New York City is one of the hardest. That's why they call it like the Concrete Jungle, because it’s a jungle over there. You know if you can make it, which we did, we made it, we fought through everything, all the obstacles that New York has given us. We fought through it and we made it, but it’s definitely rough and tough and you have to have thick skin to be out there for sure.

What’s your favorite restaurant in NYC?

Yeah, I like this restaurant called Catch.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Keep God first, hard work, consistency, and discipline.

How did having a child affect or change you?

It changed me. It made me into a man. It made me understand that I’m not working for me anymore, I got a family now that I have to provide for. That definitely, 100%, made me into the man I am right now. Me knowing that I got a little man and I gotta provide for him, you know, it’s different. It’s not just me providing a life for myself. I’ve got to think about his mom and him. We got a deep plan for him. When he gets older, he doesn’t have to go through things I went through.

What is something on your bucket list that you still want to accomplish?

One thing on my bucket list is becoming the undisputed champion in the 168-pound division.

If you could have dinner with any three people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?

Biggie Smalls (Notorious B.I.G.). You know I'm from Brooklyn and he’s from Brooklyn. I love his music. Another person I’d love to sit down with is Kobe Bryant because I would just like to pick his brain and see what his thoughts were about being an athlete. Third person would be Michael Jordan. Same thing, his mind, just seeing where his train of thought is at and how to become great and stuff.

What do you want to accomplish in boxing when it’s all said and done?

I definitely want to be world champion in different weight categories. When boxing is over, I just want to go down in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters that ever lived. That I could be there with Felix “Tito” Trinidad, Hector “Macho” Camacho, and all these guys. When they mention them, they’re gonna mention my name. So that’s one of my goals.

What do you want fans to know about you?

I love to eat. If eating was like a sport, I'd be in that sport 100%. I love eating and I love trying new things and new restaurants and stuff.

For a closer look at Canelo vs Berlanga, check out our fight night page.