Underdog Edgar Berlanga says his plan to defeat unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14th is to use his “IQ” to outsmart the Mexican star at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A Flawed Shift in Strategy
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) sounds like he’s ready to change his fighting approach for this matchup, going from being a slugger to a boxer. He hopes that it could be the key to defeating Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs). Since Berlanga isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, it sounds desperate and wacky for him to focus on outwitting Canelo.
The 27-year-old Brooklyn, New York native Berlanga must know that his chances of beating Canelo on brute strength are slim because he’s fought those types of fighters many times in his career and excels against them.
Hopefully, Berlanga will switch to plan B if he has one and fails with his idea of using his ring IQ to beat Canelo on September 14th because that plan sounds foolish. Berlanga has the youth, size, and power advantages over Canelo. It would be silly to switch to a different tactic at this stage.
Questionable Game Plan
“It’s about IQ and intelligence in that ring. That’s going to make the difference,” Edgar Berlanga told the media about how he will defeat Canelo.
“You could have all the power in the world, but at this level, it’s about intelligence.
“This is for my island, and this is for my last name, Berlanga. It’s legendary, man. Canelo-Berlanga, that’s legendary to me,” said Berlanga to Sean Zittel’s YouTube channel, talking about what his fight against Canelo meant to him.
Berlanga is happy to see his name in the lights and posters for this fight against Canelo. He must enjoy it while it lasts because this fight will likely end badly for him.
If Canelo, 34, destroys Berlanga, as most believe he will, he’ll still be given opportunities for fights due to his popularity in New York City with his Puerto Rican fans, but he’ll need to face quality opposition to get the attention from fans.
Berlanga can’t continue to fight 100% low-level fighters like he’s done in the past to build his glittering 22-0 record. That’s the problem. If Berlanga is matched against good super middleweight contenders, he’s probably not going to do well, and he can’t absorb losses without being quickly forgotten.
Tactical Blunders
“Give him a taste of his own medicine. If he wants to punch arms, we’re going to punch arms too. Nobody punched his arms. Nobody punched his shoulders,” said Berlanga. “Canelo’s best win was probably GGG because I feel like when he beat [36-year-old] GGG, he beat him at his peak.:
Berlanga should target Canelo’s midsection rather than his arms because he’s previously shown vulnerability in that area. Targeting Canelo’s arms to tire him would take too many rounds to be potentially effective, and Berlanga’s shaky punch resistance might not allow him to go that far in the fight.
It is worrisome that Berlanga mentioned being ready to “go out on my shield” because that talk is a sign that he thinks he will get knocked out by Canelo, which he probably will.
Read the full article here
