Eddie Hearn believes Edgar Berlanga can beat Canelo Alvarez if he can match or outwork him with punch volume on Saturday night in their main event clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Hearn says Berlanga isn’t going to defeat Canelo by outboxing him because he’s too good for that. Berlanga has got to use his advantage in power and youth to throw more shots than Alvarez, who Hearn notes has seen a drop off in his punch volume in recent years.
The negative aspect of Berlanga’s attempt to beat Canelo by outworking him is that he’ll give him plenty of opportunities to land his powerful countershots, and he will need a strong chin to take them.
“This fight secures your future forever and many generations of your family, which is important, but this is a shot at legacy to become a superstar yourself. That’s what Edgar has been searching for, and this is his moment,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about Edgar Berlanga’s fight this Saturday night against Canelo Alvarez.
“For Edgar, you beat him once. You want to try and beat him twice for massive money. It would be a nice problem to have. I think he has to go up in IQs and levels because he’s better than anyone Edgar has ever faced. That’s one of the problems you have fighting Canelo Alvarez.”
Obviously, if Berlanga beats Canelo on Saturday night, he will want to fight him in an immediate rematch because even if there isn’t a rematch clause, that’s the fight to make. Berlanga won’t take off with the belts that he wins off Canelo and go fight someone else, like Christian Mbilli or Diego Pacheco.
“I think Edgar has ability. His ring IQ is underrated. We know he can punch. Every time Munguia took chances, he got countered and got hit a lot [by Canelo]. On the one hand, you want to box smart and box clever, but you’ve got to try and make a dent as well,” said Hearn.
Berlanga does have good ring smarts, but he’s no match for Canelo, and he tends to get frustrated when his opponents hit him back with good shots. If he loses his cool against Canelo, he could get knocked out.
“Canelo’s output has dropped over the years. He hasn’t had a stoppage in five fights. He’s not always out there trying to put his foot on the gas and chase down the stoppage. So, you’ve got to match him and beat him on work rate, and that’s what Dmitry Bivol did so well in that fight [in 2022],” said Hearn.
Canelo has gotten by in the last two years by fighting lesser opposition since his loss to Dmitry Bivol. He’s taken the easier fighters, beating Jaime Munguia, John Ryder, and Gennadiy Golovkin [40 years old].
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