By: Sean Crose
He’s certainly not lacking in confidence, and perhaps he shouldn’t be. Edgar Berlanga is undefeated, after all, having stopped seventeen of his twenty-two opponents within the distance. No matter that five of his last six victories have come courtesy the judge’s scorecards, the twenty-seven year old feels he absolutely has what it takes to best the one and only Canelo Alvarez when the two men meet for super middleweight title dominance next Saturday night in Las Vegas. Most would disagree with the fighter known as “The Chosen One,” but Berlanga doesn’t seem to much care what others have to say.
“I feel like now is my time to really shine,” he’s said in a recent interview. In another interview, the Brooklyn based fighter stated: “Who I was my last fight is not who I’m going to be September 14th (the date of the Canelo fight).” And what does the hungry challenger think of Canelo himself? “He’s overlooking me and he doesn’t respect me,” Berlanga said. “I’m going to knock him the fuck out.” Many may not believe those words – but Berlanga does. He has to, otherwise, what’s the point in facing perhaps the greatest fighter of this generation?
The truth is that Canelo might not be the only one looking over the brash Berlanga. The boxing public, after all, wanted to see Canelo face the fearsome David Benavidez next. Canelo opted to take on Berlanga instead, leading some to believe he ducked Benavidez in order to face a softer target. Such thinking is likely to only motivate Berlanga further. To win the WBC and WBO super middleweight belts next week would be one thing, to win them as a prohibitive underdog would only serve to make the achievement all the sweeter. Playing David to Canelo’s Goliath would make a Berlanga victory that much more notable.
Canelo, however, is Canelo, one of the most skilled, lauded, and popular fighters on earth. There’s a good reason he’s the favorite walking into the Berlanga fight. Why wouldn’t he be? A guaranteed Hall of Famer, Canelo has beaten the likes of Miguel Cotto, Sergey Kovalev, Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs and countless others. The man’s resume is beyond impressive. Even the greatest of fighters eventually fade, however, and some are claiming Canelo is starting to slip after so many years atop the figurative heap. If Canelo is in fact missing a beat, expect Berlanga to take advantage of it on the 14th of this month. Or at least try to. Old fighters die hard, after all.