Trainer Stephen Edwards believes that Canelo Alvarez will be aiming to challenge Edgar Berlanga on September 14 because of what he was doing in the build-up to their fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Edwards Predicts a Very Slow and Painful Beating
Edwards feels that unified super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) will deliberately drag out the beatings for ten or eleven rounds to “destroy” Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) as a fighter to teach him a lesson. .
Recently, Berlanga is talking bad, saying that he will knock out Canelo in the sixth round and become the new king of this 168 lb division. He doesn't look like he's kidding.
The 27-year-old Berlanga is looking to use his youth, size and power to KO Canelo to become the new super middleweight division's top contender.
Berlanga sees the kind of money he can make by beating Canelo because a win would put him in a position to get a rematch and defend his titles against fighters like David Benavidez, Jaime Munguia, and Caleb Plant.
Berlanga's History of Dirty Tricks
Edwards also believes that Berlanga will be knocked out on purpose to avoid embarrassment if the fight goes one way, Canelo beating him.
Stephen says he has seen Berlanga make dirty moves when fights are not going well for him, he sees him doing this when he starts getting beaten by Canelo.
Although he did not provide examples of incidents where Berlanga used profanity, he may be referring to his fight with Roamer Alexis Angulo in June 2022 at the Hula Theater in New York. When the fight was going badly for him, Berlanga was seen trying to bite him on the shoulder. Berlanga was suspended for six months for this incident.
“I think Canelo will try to harass him. I think it's because of his mouth and everything,” trainer Stephen Edwards said on MillCity Boxing's YouTube channel, picking Canelo Alvarez to challenge Edgar Berlanga on September 14 because of his trash talking.
In order for Canelo, 34, to hurt Berlanga a little bit, he will need to be willing to take the hard shots that will land him, and that is dangerous. Berlanga is the biggest puncher Canelo has faced since his trilogy fight against Gennadiy Golovkin in 2022. It's not a good idea for Canelo to take it easy on a strong guy just to waste him a little bit.
“I think he's going to try to abuse him and beat him up to his body, just waste him and hit him. [stuffing] come out of him. I think you will try to spoil him. I think he's going to try to carry him late and try to beat him for 10 or 11 rounds and really hurt the kid.
Edwards Predicts Withdrawal
“I won't be surprised if Berlanga is withdrawn and he doesn't want to be embarrassed like that in front of his family and friends. I saw him bite people [Alexis Roamer Angulo?] before, and I saw him make some kind of comment. “He's the type of guy that I wouldn't be surprised if he lost his temper and did something dirty,” Edwards said.
Considering what is being looked forward to in this fight, it is unlikely that Berlanga will try to get rid of Canelo because there is a lot of money to be made if he wins. He will want to stay as long as possible, hoping for a knockout.
“There is no disrespect to Berlanga. Munguia is an excellent host. So, I think Canelo was in for a real fight that night, and he had to be careful because this guy has good stamina and he was determined. He fought a really good fight, even though Canelo beat him. “I think it's a different fight, and I think Munguia should be careful,” said Edwards.
It didn't seem like Canelo was showing any sympathy to Munguia last May. He couldn't take the boy out because he didn't have the strength to fight constantly to finish him off.
When Canelo dropped Munguia in the fourth, he looked tired as he tried to finish him off. The only reason Munguia couldn't get into the fight was that he was limited and looked like a great fighter out of his depth.
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