WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed that his organization has created the ‘Tamaulipas II’ belt, which will be presented to the winner of the clash between unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga on September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Unnecessary Belt
Fans on social media are having a field day roasting WBC president Sulaiman for creating the special ‘Tamaulipas II. ‘ They view it as an attempt to get some cheap publicity while at the same time ingratiating himself with Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) to stay on his good side.
Creating another belt is a waste of time because Canelo doesn’t need it, and Berlanga wouldn’t be impressed if he came out victorious.
The best thing Sulaiman and the WBC can do is waive the sanctioning fee for their 168-lb belt that Canelo holds so that he can save some money. Now, that would be something he would appreciate much more than being given another trinket belt.
CINTURÓN TAMAULIPAS DEL CMB PARA CANELO VS BERLANGA #Canelo #boxeo #box #wbc #fy #mexico pic.twitter.com/CTXN0tyctd
— Upperbox (@Upper_Box) September 2, 2024
“I would love for him to beat Canelo and take all those belts away, then all these other fighters have an opportunity,” said trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. to the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, saying he wants Edgar Berlanga to upset Canelo Alvarez on September 14th.
Unfortunately for Jose Sr., Berlanga isn’t expected to defeat Canelo, and it’s a waste of time for him to hold out hope that he’ll potentially pull off a miracle upset. Berlanga is out of his league with this fight, and if his promoters believed in him, they would have tested him against quality opposition all these years instead of matching him against tomato cans.
“With Canelo, you never know what’s happening. Berlanga doesn’t have the power to choose and do whatever he wants to do at this point,” said Jose Sr. “I think that will give more opportunities for 168s, but Canelo is a great fighter pound-for-pound. I think he can adjust, and this style of going to fit for him to beat Berlanga.”
If Berlanga had been fighting good opposition for the last eight years instead of the worst of the worst, he’d be in a better position to call the shots. But his management has clearly matched him carefully. They noted how he struggled against the C-level opposition he was matched against and thought better of putting him in against good fighters.
Benavidez Sr.’s Ulterior Motive
“I’m cheering for Berlanga. I like him,” said Jose Sr. “Like I said, the reason I want him to beat Canelo is so that all these other fighters can have the opportunity to fight for the belts. I feel that Canelo has held these belts hostage for a long time. They’ve already taken one away. He still has three of them.”
Jose Sr’s son, David Benavidez, already has a full plate of food, as he is mandatory for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol winner. Jose should be happy with that choice for David because he’s going to get a big payday fighting the winner. Benavidez doesn’t need to fight Berlanga because it’s unlikely that he can make 168 now that he’s fighting at 175.
“Who is he going to fight next after Berlanga? I’ll be happy if Berlanga can beat him. Maybe we’ll fight Berlanga,” said Jose Sr.
With this above comment, Benavidez Sr. finally reveals why he wants Berlanga to defeat Canelo so bad. He’s heard Berlanga’s comments about being interested in fighting Benavidez if he’s victorious over Canelo. So, now Jose Sr. is sniffing around, hoping he can get a fight against Berlanga for his son, David Benavidez.
Canelo’s Criticism of David Benavidez
“He [Canelo] was saying that David [Benavidez] didn’t look good in his last fight [against Oleksandr Gvozdyk]. He didn’t look good against [Jermell] Charlo, a little guy. He’s mentioning David a little bit. I don’t know why,” said Jose Sr.
Canelo is telling no lies. Benavidez looked awful in his debut at 175 against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th, showing no power and running out of gas after six rounds.
Gvozdyk dominated the entire second half of the contest but was given a raw deal by the Nevada judges, who scored it for Benavidez by a wide 12-round unanimous decision. Canelo saw the fight and noted that Benavidez could do “nothing” now that he’s fighting in his proper weight class at 175.
The judges did nothing to hide that Benavidez is not the same fighter he was at 168 and will be out of his league when he faces the winner of the October 12th fight between light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“We can go down to 168 and make that fight [with Canelo] happen. David doesn’t have a problem making 168, but right now, we’re trying to get Bivol-Beterbiev, and hopefully we can make that fight.”
Jose Benavidez Sr. needs to understand that Canelo is never going to fight his son, David Benavidez. That’s not happening, and Jose Sr. should know that by now.
Benavidez is where he should be now, fighting at 175 and looking poor, competing against fighters his own size. He’s had a reputation for being a weight bully all these years and should have been fighting at 175 from day one when he began his career 11 years ago in 2013.
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