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Oscar De La Hoya brands Edgar Berlanga 'not mentally stable' after press conference altercation
Former world champion-turned-promoter Oscar De La Hoya has labelled Edgar Berlanga as 'not mentally stable' after becoming embroiled in a war of words with the fighter during the final press conference for The Ring III show this weekend.
Berlanga will take on Brit Hamzah Sheeraz in the headlining event of the New York City show this Saturday, which will be shown live on DAZN PPV.
The two opponents had already turned the air blue with their barbs throughout the months of build-up to fight night, but Berlanga’s attention seemingly switched to Golden Boy head honcho De La Hoya.
Both Berlanga and De La Hoya brought props to make digs at each other. Puerto Rican Berlanga unveiled a wig, high heels, and lingerie before chucking the articles of clothing at De La Hoya, in reference to a now infamous picture of the ex-boxer.
An animated Berlanga shouted at De La Hoya: "You're my stripper. You’re my f***ing stripper, b***h.”
De La Hoya took it in stride by offering to put on the lingerie, before bellowing at Berlanga to sit down, pointing out his lack of a world title.
The promoter has previously stated that the photo of him dressed up in women’s attire was an attempt at blackmail by two women who took advantage of him whilst drunk, but if Berlanga had crossed a line, the six-weight champion also went for a controversial topic.
Having brought a jeweller with him to check if Berlanga’s diamonds were real, De La Hoya switched his attack onto Berlanga’s nationality.
De La Hoya claimed that Brooklyn-born Berlanga was not actually Puerto Rican, requesting to see the fighter’s passport.
Aside from the fact that Puerto Rico does not have a separate passport to the USA, as it is a territory of the United States, De La Hoya went on to claim that he was more Puerto Rican than Berlanga.
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Afterwards, De La Hoya told The Ring’s YouTube channel: “He’s not mentally stable. So, what I had to do was rattle him. I had a jewellery guy here, Isaac, who is the guy in New York to test diamonds. Thanks for showing the world they’re fake.
“I wanted to show Berlanga that this is the big leagues, baby. This is not you fighting Canelo and losing all 12 rounds and having a victory party. I’ve been asking for your passport, and you can’t give it to me. I’m probably more Puerto Rican than Berlanga is. I lived for seven years on the island.”
Discussing the fight itself, De La Hoya unsurprisingly backs Sheeraz to defeat Berlanga in Saturday’s main event.
He continued: “I think Sheeraz has a great shot of beating Berlanga and shutting his mouth and proving to the world that Sheeraz is the real deal.”
Watch the Ring 3 live from New York exclusively on DAZN PPV, Saturday, July 12 Buy the PPV now here
