Super middleweight Edgar Berlanga was too ambitious for his own good, according to his former promoter Bob Arum.

That, apparently, was the biggest reason why Arum’s Top Rank and Berlanga, the hard-hitting, popular Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, New York, decided to part ways a few weeks ago.

“We had a different philosophy and we didn’t want to hold him back,” Arum told iD Boxing. “But he is bound and determined to proceed at a pace that we don’t think he’s ready for. He thinks differently, and I wish all the luck in the world. He’s a nice young man. Father’s a nice guy, but we just have a different philosophy of where he’s going.”

Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs), who signed with Top Rank in 2019, was initially heralded as one of the more exciting young knockout artists in the sport, but that reputation has nosedived recently as he has struggled to look impressive in his last several fights. After stopping his first 16 opponents inside the distance, Berlanga, 25, has gone the distance against his last four.

On social media, at least one fighter hinted that Berlanga's issues with Top Rank came down to a disagreement over his risk-reward calculus. Jesse Hart, the 168-pound veteran from Philadelphia and longtime Top Rank client, suggested that Top Rank wanted Berlanga to fight him but that Berlanga demurred.

“The key issue is he don’t wanna fight me he want the Big money to fight over the hill dudes like where now I’ll never fight em @trboxing tried to force him into the fight he kept saying no,” Hart wrote on Twitter.

Ever since Berlanga’s free agency became publicly known, various suitors have lined up to express their interest in the 168-pounder, including Eddie Hearn of Matchroom and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy.

Hearn suggested he would be interested in pairing Berlanga with undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez of Mexico at some point down the line, which would capitalize on the ingrained sporting rivalry between their respective countries.

De La Hoya insisted recently that he would be willing to get on a plane and speak with Berlanga about working together.

Both Hearn and De La Hoya have output deals with DAZN, the sports subscription streaming service. Berlanga’s manager is Keith Connolly, best known as the handler of Daniel Jacobs and Sergiy Derevyanchenko.