Edgar Berlanga says Canelo Alvarez told him he’s going to be a “superstar” after their fight on September 14th. Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) says his family told him he’s going to be the “Face of Boxing.”
It’s hard to believe they weren’t humoring the 27-year-old Berlanga, because he’d been throwing around “superstar” about himself leading up to their fight.
Canelo might have told Berlanga what he wanted to hear after the fight to cheer him up because he’s lost by such a wide margin, losing by the scores 118-109, 117-110, and 118-109.
Berlanga fought like a bigger version of Jermell Charlo, just coming to survive and not trying to win. Canelo’s previous opponent, Jaime Munguia, had done a better job than Berlanga, and he’s the same age at 27.
The fight was not entertaining for the fans on social media because Berlanga was just covering up, playing the rope-a-dope, but to survive, not to tire out Canelo as he said.
“I want big fights, like Munguia. He’s Mexican; he has a country behind him. That’s a big, big pay-per-view fight,” said Edgar Berlanga to Sways Universe when asked who he wanted to fight. “After the fight, he told me I’m going to be a world champion, and I’m going to be a superstar,” said Berlanga about what Canelo Alvarez told him after their fight on September 14th. “His family told me, ‘You’re going to be the Face of Boxing.’”
Munguia’s management could have chosen Berlanga for his December 14th fight, but he would have been fighting Ronald Gavril. That’s not a good sign for Berlanga because it could mean that they’ll look in his direction due to the network issues.
“The same thing happened when he fought Floyd [Mayweather] earlier in his career. He skyrocketed from there. I feel the same way,” said Berlanga.
There was a big difference between the career of the then 22-year-old Canelo, who fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, and the 27-year-old Berlanga. By the time he fought Mayweather, Canelo had already fought notable fighters Austin Trout, Shane Mosley, Jose Cotto, Kermit Cintron, and Josesito Lopez, and he was five years younger than Berlanga is now.
Canelo’s career took off, but that was because he was fighting quality opposition. Berlanga’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is talking about wanting him to take a tune-up. Canelo wasn’t taking tune-ups after his fight with Mayweather. Soon after, he fought Erislandy Lara and Miguel Cotto.
“His face looked like that, and my face was clean,” said Berlanga about Canelo, who had a swollen face at the end of the fight. “His face was all messed up with bumps all over his face. I felt he was underestimating my power. I found out today that in his career, he was saying to his coaches, ‘He’s so strong.’ Each round, he kept saying, ‘He’s still strong.’”
Berlanga isn’t mentioning that he reportedly weighed 193 lbs after rehydrating for the Canelo fight, which means the Mexican star was fighting a cruiserweight. As big as Berlanga is, he should be fighting at light heavyweight because he’s too big for the super middleweight division.
“Over 650,000 pay-per-view buys [for Canelo fight]. They were saying it was a 22 million gate. I’m up there with Floyd with his fight against him. He knows I’m going to be the Face of Boxing. He knows the 168-lb division is going to be mine.
“I need all those titles, and I want to be undisputed. I started noticing that he was getting frustrated. He was playing with his hands. That was frustration [on Canelo’s part]. I took Canelo out of his element. If I had a ten-week or 12-week camp, it would have been a different fight,” said Berlanga.
