Edgar Berlanga always dreamed of headlining a fight in his hometown New York. 

The Brooklyn-born Super Middleweight has punched his way towards that dream, earning that accolade 18 fights into his career. Berlanga, 24, is fighting Steve Rolls at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden Saturday night, the headline bout on Top Rank’s card on ESPN. 

The path towards The Garden was not linear, though. Amid a rapid ascension in the division – and across boxing – Berlanga turned heads with a vicious first-round knockout streak, stopping his first 16 opponents before they could hear the first round bell. 

In his last two fights, however – against Demond Nicholson and Marcelo Coceres – Berlanga was taken the distance. Coceres knocked Berlanga down, his first time hitting the canvas as a pro. 

Berlanga, now 18-0, won both bouts, but against improved competition did not show the same effectiveness he did throughout his first 16 fights. 

As he prepares for the most-accomplished opponent he’s faced, on the biggest stage of his career, Berlanga wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. 

“I needed that,” Berlanga told The Post. “I felt like not only was it a wake up call, but I feel like every fighter needs adversity to see who you really are. And that goes in life too. In life you go through bumps and rocky roads and that tells you how you’re really built…

“I’ve been boxing for 18 years. I’ve fought with the best, even as an amateur. For me, to prove that to myself, I already knew I had that in me, that dog in me. I already know I have that in me, I’m a dog and my heart is as big as this world. That wasn’t the issue. The best thing for me was I showed the world that I’m a dog, that I went through that adversity.” 

Berlanga tore his bicep in the third round against Coceres, losing significant power on his jab in the process. As a result, Berlanga had to wait for his chance at Rolls while he rehabbed in Las Vegas. 

Rolls, a 37-year-veteran, has a 21-1 record, with his sole defeat coming at the hands of two-time middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. 

“I think that anytime a fighter faces adversity it makes him a better fighter,” Shawn Porter, a two-time welterweight world champion and boxing analyst who is currently part of NBC’s “Ring City USA” broadcast team, told The Post. “I’ve got no doubt that while we may see the same Berlanga in the ring, punching hard, and trying to knock a guy out in a matter of seconds in the first round, I think we’re now gonna have a more defensively responsible Berlanga as he moves forward in his career. Now, being hit, he was kinda like ‘I can’t be touched,’ and now he’s been touched. And I think it will resonate with him and force him to make those adjustments.” 

On his way into the ring, Berlanga will be joined by hip-hop stars Fat Joe and Myke Towers. Along with his rise inside the ring, Berlanga vows to be a star outside of the ring, creating a celebrity that will outlast his boxing career. According to Berlanga, he had an agreement to star in Creed 3, but had to back out due to his bicep injury and recovery. 

Berlanga’s knockout streak helped him quickly realize a semblance of that celebrity he promises. During the Knicks’ win over the Blazers Wednesday, Berlanga sat along Celebrity Row with Tracy Morgan, whom he considers a good friend, and was featured on the jumbotron during a timeout. 

“I’ve got that presence,” Berlanga said. “When you walk into a room, you can feel my presence. I’ve always had that since I was a kid. Me walking into a room, or if it was a bunch of kids, I was always the kid that stood out. I felt like I brought that into the boxing world. It’s not just about boxing now, it’s about the brand, it’s about building myself, marketing myself the right way, because at the end of the day we’ve got a short gap for this boxing thing.” 

Despite his knockout streak coming to an end, Berlanga still feels like fans have only seen one part of his game – his power. Against Rolls, he hopes to change that. 

“I still feel like I was trying to go in there relying on the power and stuff instead of just letting that go, because I hit so hard, just me tapping somebody is gonna hurt, so this fight I really wanna show my true self,” Berlanga said. “Everything I’ve been doing in the boxing gym, boxing and looking pretty in the gym, I gotta bring that to this fight.” 

Saturday night will feature another local fighter. 

Jahi Tucker looks to continue his rise through the super lightweight ranks as one of the sport’s top young prospects. 

Tucker, just 19 years old, resides in Deer Park on Long Island. He was ranked the No. 1 American amateur at 138 pounds before turning pro, and was on the USA Junior National Team.

He’s raced out to a 6-0 record to start his career, four of which came via KO. 

“This is a fight that’s going to show the world, being to Madison Square Garden again, big undercard, this will definitely show the world that I’m really one of the best prospects in boxing,” Tucker told The Post. “I feel like I’m the best prospect in boxing, and one of the best fighters in general.” 

Tucker is not foreign to his hometown arena – he fought at The Garden in October, beating Jorge Sosa via TKO in the second round. 

“It’s just a feeling of it all, the environment,” Tucker said. “Even before you fight, you know you’re in New York City, the greatest city in the world. You gotta go into the greatest arena in the world, and go in there and perform. It just does something different.”