Edgar Berlanga says he will “counter” everything Canelo Alvarez throws on September 14th in their headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) says WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) is “soft” because he’d shown compassion for his Mexican opponent, Jaime Munguia, last May. He feels it was ” soft ” and “stupid” to do that, showing that Canelo isn’t a real killer.
“I’m comfortable, and he doesn’t like that because he wants everyone to respect him. If he tries to open up with uppercuts or hooks, I’m going to counter him bad,” said Edgar Berlanga to the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, talking about Canelo Alvarez.
Canelo was put off by all the wacky death talk that Berlanga had done during the press conference and his bragging about having “earned” his shots. The only reason Berlanga is getting this fight is because Canelo picked him. He didn’t earn by beating anyone.
If Canelo hadn’t selected him, Berlanga would have sat rotted for years as a contender until he was eventually eliminated by one of the tomato cans his promoters have matched him against. Berlanga almost got beaten by several lower-level fighters he’s faced, struggling against Roamer Alexis Angulo, 39, Steve Rolls, 40, and Marcelo Estaban Cocernes.
“He thinks I don’t punch that hard. I know you can punch,” said Berlanga about Canelo. “I have a Glock for you. He’s overlooking the situation. I didn’t knock out 16 cab drivers as he fought in Mexico. I fought guys that were going the distance.”
Canelo knows Berlanga has power because he’d be crazy not to, but all the fighters at 168 can punch as well, and many of them are more talented than him. Berlanga is on the lower edge of the spectrum in the talent department.
“I fought guys that were going the distance with champions, and I was still knocking them out in the first round. So, my power is real, but he’s overlooking it,” said Berlanga.
Edgar doesn’t mention any fighters he knocked out in the first round that went the distance with a champion because there aren’t any. He went the distance against journeyman Demond Nicholson and Marcelo Esteban Conceres, who had fought world champions before. However, Berlanga didn’t knockout Coceres and Nicholson.
“You soft. Deep down in your heart, you’re soft,” said Berlanga about Canelo, reacting to him supposedly carrying his last opponent, Jaime Munguia. “Real killers don’t do that.
“Seeing an interview the other day where he said that he’s big and comes in over 20 lbs,” said Berlanga about Canelo, explaining why he didn’t want to fight David Benavidez. ”
He’s the same weight as you at 168. So why does it matter? You’re weighing in on Friday [before the fight]. What does it matter that he jumps up 15 to 20 lbs? You jump up the same weight. What’s the difference here?”
Berlanga can’t lecture Canelo on Benavidez when he wouldn’t fight him or David Morrell to earn the title shot. Initially, Berlanga was WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion Morrell’s mandatory earlier this year after being an obscure Irish fighter, Padraig McCrory, in a title eliminator.
Berlanga didn’t want to fight Morrell despite his WBA mandatory. He only wanted to fight Canelo. So, he cannot lecture Canelo for not fighting Benavidez when he wouldn’t fight him or Morrell. It makes him sound like a hypocrite, but whatever he needs to do, sell his fight.
In an ideal world, Berlanga would have been forced to fight Morrell to earn the Canelo fight because if that had happened, at least you could say he earned the fight rather than having it given to him.
“I’m Puerto Rican. You know how Mexicans don’t like Puerto Rican fighters,” said Berlanga, failing to say he’s American, not from Puerto Rico.
Fans aren’t catching onto the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico theme that Berlanga is trying to push because they don’t view him as Puerto Rican. He’s from New York.
It would be better for Berlanga to focus on what he will bring to the table for the fight rather than playing the Puerto Rico angle, hoping to get a few more PPV buys. People just view Berlanga as a New Yorker who was given a title shot that he doesn’t rate against Canelo.
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