Eddie Hearn says he and his fighter Edgar Berlanga aren’t coming to “roll the dice” against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night. They’re coming to unseat the unified super middleweight champion Canelo and take his belts home to Brooklyn, New York.
The Matchroom promoter Hearn says he promised Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) he would get him a fight against Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) within three fights after signing him last year, and he’s fulfilled that promise by getting Edgar the title shot after matching him first against Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory.
Canelo could have picked someone else, but he wanted Berlanga and helped Hearn keep his promise. The match between Canelo and Berlanga will be shown live on DAZN PPV this Saturday, September 14th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Fans are still slightly annoyed at the $89.99 event price because that’s a little steep for what some feel is a mismatch and lackluster undercard. Boxing has become one of the most expensive sports, and that’s not likely to change.
“It’s a special week—Mexican Independence Day weekend. Of course, another defense for the unified champion Canelo Alvarez,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to the media during today’s final press conference for the Canelo vs. Edgar Berlanga event on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“I’m excited for this fight. When two guys come face to face and when someone has the [courage] to take this guy [Canelo] for real, and not just talk about it and not come to survive 12 rounds. When these two look at each other in the eye, you know they want to [mess] each other up.
“This guy [Berlanga] to my left is here to fight. I’ve been involved in so many of these fights. Sometimes on this side and sometimes on this side. When I turned up yesterday, I saw the most determined, the most confident and [courageous] challenger that I’ve seen yet taking on this guy [Canelo] in Edgar Berlanga.”
Fans still have sticker shock, complaining that the event isn’t worth $90 on PPV. They wouldn’t say that if Hearn had used his two previous fights for Berlanga to match him against David Morrell, David Benavidez, and Jaime Munguia. Hearn’s decision to play it safe with Berlanga by matching him against McCrory and Quigley was a mistake.
“I know what Canelo wants at this stage in his career,” said Hearn. “He wants a real fight. This guy [Berlanga] is 22-0, undefeated, he’s young and he has zero miles on the clock. 16 first round knockouts. He punches hard and has an underrated boxing IQ as well.”
Canelo could have gotten a good fight if he’d agreed to fight Benavidez or Morrell, but he didn’t want to fight them. He wanted Berlanga, and that was not a popular decision. During today’s final press conference, Canelo said that he’d already fought everybody. So, he felt that because of that, Berlanga was the perfect guy. He was disingenuous because he didn’t fight the top 168-pounders and went out of his way to swerve them.
“When I signed him, I said one thing. Two headline fights and then the shot against Canelo Alvarez” said Hearn. ‘Everything has happened beautifully. It’s a massive opportunity. This is like the lottery ticket of boxing. We’re in Las Vegas. It’s where you roll the dice, but we’re not going to roll the dice. We’re going to collect the winning ticket.”
Hearn pulled the strings to get Berlanga to the #1 spot with the WBA from his fights against UK fighters Padraig McCrory and Jason Quigley and then got him the title shot against Canelo without needing to fight anyone good to risk his unbeaten record.
“I promise you the atmosphere at the T-Mobile on Saturday night will be incredible. The man to my left [Berlanga] is here to win. He’ll give you action on Saturday night. Don’t rule him out. Enjoy the show, and good luck to all,” said Hearn.
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