Edgar Berlanga’s back is against the wall against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez ahead of their fight on Saturday night.
Only the folks inside the undefeated upstart Berlanga’s (22-0, 17 KOs) camp are giving him a chance to beat the super middleweight king Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs).
Add David Benavidez’s team as the unofficial president of Berlanga’s fan club for the fight.
“I wish Berlanga can beat Canelo so he can take over the belts and maybe we can have more opportunities,” Benavidez’s father and trainer Jose Sr. told BoxingScene. “Because right now, Canelo does what he wants [and fights who he wants]. People don’t like that anymore. The fights he’s getting are not interesting or exciting.”
Bookmakers believe the fight is a foregone conclusion. Berlanga is listed as a +1000 underdog, twice the amount Alvarez’s last opponent, Jaime Munguia, was in May. But Berlanga is talking a big game, predicting a sixth-round knockout will retire Alvarez and make him the new face of boxing.
The former two-time super middleweight titleholder Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) had been pounding the table looking to cash in his ticket as Alvarez’s WBC mandatory challenger in recent years, but Alvarez instead demanded a nine-figure payday to make the fight.
The series of events has led Benavidez to chase a title in the light heavyweight division, and he’s now awaiting a crack at the undisputed crown following the light heavyweight unification title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol next month.
Benavidez, though, has indicated he will step back down to 168 pounds to face Alvarez if the fight ever comes to fruition. Alvarez, a former 175-pound champion, recently quipped that his former conqueror Bivol would beat Benavidez because Benavidez “has done nothing at 175 pounds.”
Benavidez made his division debut in June and went the distance against former titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk. It wasn’t an easy night at the office, as Benavidez endured injuries, but he still got the job done. He’s now set to return for a fight on December 14.
“Everything is going well. He’s letting his hands heal. We’re looking for an opponent,” said Benavidez Sr. “It has to be an exciting fighter. It has to be somebody good because David is an exciting fighter. We care about giving people good fights. We want to fight the best in 50/50 fights. We want to make history. And to do that, you have to fight the best.
“Beterbiev and Bivol are the only guys we want to fight out there. Hopefully, we can fight the winner. But there have to be other exciting fighters. David Morrell is a fight that I would love to make. Morrell is a great fighter. He’s been proving himself. It’s time. Previously it was a little too early but I think people want to watch that now. It’s the perfect time. People will get excited about it.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine, and more. He’s been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.