Edgar Berlanga says he didn’t like the way Canelo Alvarez was smiling in his face during Tuesday’s Beverly Hills press conference.
Berlanga’s Hood Mentality
The challenger, Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), believes Canelo’s smile translated to him seeing him as a “Joke.” He says if he was in his “hood” in Brooklyn, New York, he would have smacked him in the face.
WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) don’t view Berlanga as a threat, nor does anyone else. The sooner Berlanga recognizes that the better off he’ll be. It’s not personal with Canelo. He’s Munguia 2.0 and maybe not even that good.
During the press conference, Berlanga had a meltdown when Canelo said he wasn’t going to show him any “compassion” during their fight and make him suffer for eight rounds.
When Canelo made those remarks, it was like waving a red flag in front of an angry bull because Berlanga was out of his chair instantly, wanting to get at the Mexican star. Who knows what Berlanga would have done if not for the security staff? He might have messed up getting “that bag” he’s been endlessly talking about. He sees Canelo as a money tree.
Berlanga’s Interpretation of Canelo’s Smile
“At the press conference, he kept smiling in my face. I don’t like when people smile. When people be smiling, that means you’re taking me as a joke,” said Edgar Berlanga to the media, talking about how Canelo Alvarez was smiling at him.
After all this time, how can Berlanga not know why Canelo selected him? He’s the token lamb for this fight, and Canelo will use him to massacre on September 14th unless the Mexican star gets old overnight.
Berlanga isn’t expected to improve his game from what he showed in his recent fights against Padraig McCrory and Jason Quigley.
“I’m from New York. If [someone] smiles in my face. I’m from Brooklyn; I’m from the hood,” said Berlanga. “If I’m talking to someone and they start laughing in my face, that’s disrespectful. If I’m looking at a dude and he starts smiling in my face in New York, I probably would have smacked him.”
In other words, he assaults them for smiling. Sheesh. Hopefully, Berlanga makes it to the fight against Canelo on September 14th without being put in jail for smacking people who smile at him because there will be many of them.
“Sixth round,” said Berlanga when asked what round he predicts he’ll knock out Canelo in on September 14th. “He’s cocky. That’s why Mexicans don’t like him. He is a diva. He’s the type of dude where if a side of his shirt isn’t ironed, ‘Oh, my God.’ I don’t like dudes like that.”
Berlanga will have to unload on Canelo from the opening seconds of the fight for him to have a shot at knocking him out, and that’s risky for him because he doesn’t have a chin. He was dropped by Marcelo Esteban Conceres, who isn’t even close to being a big puncher. Canelo is on a different level power-wise, and Berlanga will have to be able to take his shots to get a knockout.
“He didn’t have to say, ‘I’m not going to have no compassion.’ That’s what he does,” said Berlanga. “He probably held back on Munguia. Me, I already know. I’m Puerto Rican, bro. A lot of people don’t like me. So, I already know he’s going to go in there with bad blood. I already messed up his aura.
“You’re going to see something on September 14th, and a guy like him is going to really take the best out of me. That’s the type of person I am,” said Berlanga.
Berlanga’s Sensitivity
He shouldn’t be bothered by Canelo’s statement that he’s not going to have compassion because those are standard trash-talking statements that any fighter would make. Berlanga is one of those types of people who is easily offended and has a lot of pride.
Those types aren’t mentally prepared to deal with the give-and-take involved in building a big fight.
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