How to prepare for Canelo Alvarez? Be ready for everything, says Edgar Berlanga’s trainer

Some boxing trainers look at recent fight footage to prepare for an upcoming match. But Edgar Berlanga’s trainer says it’s important to go well beyond that when getting ready to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

“You got to look at all of them, because if you concentrate on the last three [fights] then you’re a fool, right, because you don’t know what he’s going to bring,” Marc Farrait told YSM Sports Media. 

In Canelo’s last three fights, he won comfortably unanimous decisions John Ryder in May 2023, Jermell Charlo in September 2023 and Jaime Munguia this past May.

“He’s a great fighter. He’s a legend. You can prepare for the way he fought Charlo, the way he fought Munguia, and then he’ll give you something totally different,” Farrait said. “You just gotta be ready for any surprises. You just prepare for a little bit of a mixture of everything. GGG [Gennady Golovkin, whom Canelo fought in 2017, 2018 and 2022]. See what he did with Floyd [Mayweather, whom Canelo fought in 2013]. Everything together, man. You got to look at his body of work, so that’s what we’ve been doing.”

That’s an extensive career, given that the 34-year-old Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has been a pro for nearly 19 years now. He’s fought at the world-title level since 2011, won the lineal middleweight championship in 2015 and ran through the super middleweight division’s titleholders over the course of three fights in 2020 and 2021.

Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) has far less experience; Canelo has been in more world title bouts than Berlanga has had pro fights.

Farrait and Berlanga have a long history together; Berlanga turned pro with the trainer in his corner. They parted ways for a few years before reuniting in 2023.

The 27-year-old Brooklynite of course believes he has the right game plan to win. He has said the jab will be his “breadwinner” and will help set up his power punches, and that preparing is also about not making errors that Canelo could take advantage of.

“We have to minimize our mistakes,” Berlanga said in a recent interview with Michael McCarthy, also known as Large of Barstool Sports. “We have to limit those open doors and keep them shut.”

Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.