Edgar Berlanga views his fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez as his time to take over the 168-lb division in 10 days from now on September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Berlanga’s Backdoor Route to the Title Shot
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) acknowledges that fans have put a question mark over his head, having doubts about him because of the backdoor route that he’s taken to get this title shot.
Top Rank was trying to develop Berlanga because he was terribly flawed, but he abruptly left them because he wanted to move faster with his career.
So, instead of getting all Berlanga’s learning fights, his promoter, Eddie Hearn, has fed him two British tomato cans, Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory. Now, Berlanga is getting the title shot against Canelo, which he is not ready for, and the outcome is obvious.
If boxing were better regulated, Berlanga would have had to fight his way to get a title shot by running through these killers:
– David Morrell
– Christian Mbilli
– Caleb Plant
– David Benavidez
– Osleys Iglesias
– Jaime Munguia
If Berlanga could beat all those fighters, he would deserve a fight against Canelo. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and Berlanga is getting the fight against Canelo off the back of his wins over British fighters Quigley and McCrory.
Money over Merit
It’s pretty sad because the fans who will be shelling out $89.99, thinking they will be seeing a great between Canelo and Berlanga, will get little value for their money for this contest live on DAZN PPV.
“This is a chance to prove that I’m one of the best in the sport of boxing. A lot of people have a question mark over my head right now. That question mark is going to be removed when I fight the legend,” said Edgar Berlanga to the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel.
Berlanga had the chance to prove he was one of the best by challenging WBA ‘regular’ champion David Morrell, but passed up on the fight, only wanting Canelo. That tells you it’s all about money for Berlanga and not about proving himself.
After Berlanga loses this fight, it’ll rinse and repeat with his management matching him against lesser fighters, hoping to take him the backdoor route a second time for a title shot. Fighters like Berlanga are everything that’s wrong about the sport.
A Flawed System and a Plastic Record
Fighting weak opposition to build a phony plastic record to win over impressionable fans in New York City who are looking for another Miguel Cotto hero to worship. They’ve naively latched on to Berlanga, fooled by his fake record, impressed by his gold chains, and bragged about himself.
“It’s time for a new young blood to come in and take over the 168 division,” Berlanga continued. “A lot of the guys are stuck at what they do with the same repetition, the same everything.”
Canelo would have to be 100% washed to lose this fight to Berlanga because, on paper, this is a mismatch. Berlanga would lose to at least 10 top 15 contenders in the super middleweight division. Even Jermall Charlo, who has fought just once in the last three years, would beat Berlanga.
“With me, I’m like a sponge. Keep getting better, keep getting better. There’s no stopping. We still got to go out there and win and become a legend. The better the opposition, the better I become. I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” said Berlanga.
“They say after ten years, you become a master at something if you’ve been doing it every day. I’ve been doing this every day of my life since I was six or seven years old. So, this is my time,” said Berlanga.
He’s not any kind of “master” in the sport. Tinkering around for ten years in boxing doesn’t make a fighter a “master.” Berlanga would need to beat top-level fighters to fit that category, and he hasn’t done that. His best wins are Quigley, McCrory, Roamer Alexis Angulo and Marcelo Coceres.
“I actually like Canelo. I studied him a lot. Canelo was one of my idols. When I started coming to the game, I liked his style because his style reminded me of myself. He’s a puncher. He likes to fight, and he’s smart,” said Berlanga.
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