- Edgar Berlanga, freshly signed to Zuffa Boxing, has publicly named Chris Eubank Jr as his priority next fight and says the multi-fight deal with Zuffa will not block the matchup
- The sticking point is weight: Eubank wants a 164lb catchweight; Berlanga says he won't come below the full super middleweight limit of 168 pounds
- Reports from both camps indicate talks have stalled, with one American outlet describing the fight as "dead in the water" over the weight clause alone
Right then. There are fights that fall apart because the money is wrong, fights that fall apart because the dates don't line up, and fights that fall apart because two managers decide to have a turf war on Twitter. And then there is this one — Berlanga vs Eubank Jr — which is falling apart over four pounds on a set of scales.
Four pounds. Not forty. Not fourteen. Four.
Where Negotiations Actually Sit
Berlanga signed a multi-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing on April 8, alongside IBF 140lb champion Richardson Hitchins. Since then he has gone out of his way, at every press opportunity, to repeat the same name. "I want that Eubank fight, that Chris Eubank fight. I'm interested in that." He even added that Zuffa "lets him fight anybody" — a pointed little dig at the old Matchroom days.
Eubank Jr, 36, is coming off a loss to Conor Benn late last year and has plainly dropped a level. The last time we saw him box properly was a fight he lost. His team know a Berlanga fight is a big payday and a clean stage reset. They want it. But they want it at 164, Eubank's preferred catchweight, which is exactly where he has made his last few fights work.
Berlanga's team say no. He has not made 164 since 2019. He is a naturally big 168 — always has been — and dropping four pounds over 14 weeks is, in his own words, the kind of request that wrecks a training camp. He is prepared to fight at 168, the recognised super middleweight limit. Full stop.
Let's Not Beat Around The Bush — This Is A Eubank Problem
Look, I do not want to pretend Berlanga is a saint. The man lost to Canelo, got iced by Hamzah Sheeraz, and has been a noise machine on social media for years. He is not above ducking a fight when it suits him.
But this one is not on him. He is offering the fight at the division limit. He is offering it at the division's recognised weight, in one of the top names in the world at 168, on short notice, in London. You do not get to call yourself a proper super middleweight and then refuse the actual super middleweight limit. You just don't.
Eubank Jr's 164 clause is the same trick Canelo used to pull — a catchweight that gives the smaller, older man a physical edge on the night and saves the camp a lot of pain. It's clever matchmaking if you can get away with it. But at some point it stops being clever and starts being a dodge. And we are there.
Why Eubank Needs This Fight More Than Berlanga Does
If you know, you know. Eubank is 36, he's just lost, he's been talking about retirement more often than he used to, and the big British money fight — Benavidez, Canelo, you name it — is not coming for him on his terms any more. A win over Berlanga, even at 164, reopens the American market. A loss to Berlanga at 164 is still retirement money.
Berlanga, meanwhile, has options. Zuffa just signed him with "fight anybody" framing. He's got Sheeraz out there as a rematch possibility. Riyadh Season has super middleweight on the shortlist. He does not need to take a fight at 164 to justify his Zuffa signing.
That imbalance tells you who should be conceding. Eubank needs Berlanga more than Berlanga needs Eubank. Which is exactly why the 164 clause should disappear by next week if Eubank's team are serious.
What A Fair Compromise Looks Like
Let me give the promoters a freebie. The compromise is 166. That's two pounds below the division limit and two pounds above Eubank's preferred number. Both sides take a bit of pain, neither side has to rebuild their camp, and the fight gets made. Put a same-day rehydration clause at 178 pounds to protect Eubank from being rehydrated into a light heavyweight on fight night, and you have a deal.
It is the cleanest piece of negotiating theatre in boxing. It almost always works. But it only works if somebody picks up the phone and drops their public position. Right now both camps are briefing the same publications with the same soundbites, and that is a posture, not a negotiation.
My Call — Where This Ends Up
Make no mistake: if Eubank Jr doesn't drop the 164 clause in the next fortnight, Berlanga walks. And if Berlanga walks, Zuffa will want their first big British moment to be something else entirely — a Sheeraz rematch would be the loud choice; a crack at the winner of Wardley-Dubois at 168 fantasy-matchmaking is the quieter one. Either way, the London Berlanga-Eubank night fades away.
Levels, honestly. Berlanga is levels above Eubank at 168 and they both know it. The only path where Eubank wins this fight is at a weight where Berlanga is diminished. That is the actual subtext of every "catchweight" conversation in boxing — one side knows they cannot win at fair terms.
So my prediction, for as long as the 164 clause sits there, is that this fight dies quietly over the next three weeks, Eubank retires before summer, and Berlanga's first Zuffa outing lands at Benavidez undercard or a Sheeraz rematch by September. If I'm wrong and the 164 clause drops, write me a letter — I'll eat it.
Let's be honest. The British fans deserve Berlanga vs Eubank Jr. Not at 164. At 168. The division has a limit for a reason. Use it.