Anthony Tarver can only see one path to victory for Edgar Berlanga against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Bivol Blueprint
The retired former unified light heavyweight champion Tarver says that unless Canelo dramatically slows down for this fight, Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) will lose in their headliner, live on DAZN PPV.
Berlanga, 27, has the power, youth, and size advantage over Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs). He’s going to have to implement some of the things that Dmitry Bivol showed in his win over Canelo in 2022. Bivol used in-and-out attacks to dominate Canelo, winning a 12-round decision.
Berlanga doesn’t possess that kind of boxing skills, but if he can mimic the style just enough, he might be able to win. The area of concern for Berlanga is his ability to take the hard shots that Canelo will be hitting him with. He was hurt in his fight against Marcelo Conceres, struggling against Steve Rolls, Roamer Alexis Angulo, and Jason Quigley.
Berlanga looked improved in his last fight against Padraig McCrory in February, knocking him out in the sixth round. Still, it’s unclear if that was a case of his opponent being pedestrian-level.
Canelo’s Slowing Down Could be Key
“Unless Canelo slows down tremendously before the fight, I don’t see how Berlanga can win,” said boxing pundit Antonio Tarver to the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, discussing the September 14th clash between unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga.
Canelo took a lot of shots in his last fight in May against Jaime Munguia and didn’t look great in the second half of the contest when he slowed down. He fought well through the first five rounds but gassed out after dropping Munguia.
“I don’t see him taking those shots, and I don’t see him standing up to those shots. If he can do that, maybe he can last. I don’t know,” Tarver continued. “But what is Berlanga going to shoot at Canelo that is going to unnerve him? I don’t see it, but I’ve been wrong before.
“I hope Berlanga puts on the best show that he can. I hope he performs at his best, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to dethrone Canelo,” said Tarver.
Berlanga’s Best Hope: An Explosive Start
Berlanga will definitely come to fight and be looking to tear Canelo’s head off from the first round. He’s got to start fast, the way he was doing when he scored 16 consecutive first-round knockouts at the start of his career.
Berlanga is a much better fighter when he jumps on his opponents from the get-go than what he’s shown in his recent fights where he’s trying to box and not looking comfortable.
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