Eddie Hearn insists Canelo Alvarez isn’t choosing a soft touch with his selection of Edgar Berlanga for the September 14th title defense on September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Matchroom promoter Hearn points out that Berlanga is similar to Canelo’s previous opponent, Jaime Munguia, and he viewed it as a “fairly even fight” last May. He says Berlanga is mandatory for Canelo’s WBA and is the best option available.
Berlanga: A Mandatory Challenger, Not a Soft Touch
Berlanga was David Morrell’s mandatory for his WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title, but he didn’t want to fight him for obvious reasons. Morrell would have likely beaten Berlanga quite easily. Canelo inherited Berlanga as his WBA mandatory after Morrell moved up to 175, but he didn’t have to fight him if he didn’t want to.
If Canelo didn’t want the Berlanga fight, he could have ignored him as he’d done with his WBC mandatory David Benavidez and IBF mandatory William Scull.
Hearn promoted Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), so it wouldn’t make sense for him to admit that Canelo intentionally chose an easy opponent for his September 14th fight. You wouldn’t expect Hearn to tell it like it is and say Canelo picked an awful fighter with a dreadful record who doesn’t rate a title shot.
Hearn’s View: Canelo Never Ducks a Challenge
“I don’t think so. Just before the Golovkin fight, he fought Dmitry Bivol, and he got beat,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing News, reacting to being told that some fans feel Canelo Alvarez is being matched against beatable opposition.
When Canelo chose Bivol for a fight in 2022, Bivol had recently fought Craig Richards and looked horrible in that fight. Bivol won, but it was close, and he looked timid. It’s believed that Canelo selected Bivol because of how he looked against Richards. If not for that, Canelo would have steered clear of him and avoided a loss.
“Before that, he fought [40-year-old] Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy,” said Hearn about Canelo. Even Jermell Charlo, it’s all very well after the fact, but when the fight gets made, and it’s the undisputed 154-pounder stepping up to 168, then all of a sudden, he [Canelo] wins easily, and it’s a mismatch.”
Fans on social media were highly critical of Canelo for choosing to fight Jermell Charlo last year instead of defending against David Benavidez. They weren’t praising that selection, and few thought Jermell could win. Fans saw it as a cherry-pick, and that’s what it was.
It was another example of Canelo fighting an opponent two divisions below him because he’d done it against Amir Khan in 2016. Next year, Canelo will likely face another fighter who comes up with two divisions when he fights Terence Crawford. Many believe a fight is in the pipeline between Canelo and Crawford next year if they win their next fights.
“Jaime Munguia was on a great run [when he fought Canelo],” said Hearn. “He stopped John Ryder. I don’t see too many dissimilarities between Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga. That’s a fairly even fight, but Edgar Berlanga is the [WBA] mandatory [for Canelo].”
Munguia was a fighter matched against mediocre opposition throughout his 11-year career. The best two opponents Munguia had fought before getting the Canelo fight last May were 38-year-old Sergiy Derevyanchenko and 35-year-old John Ryder. Those were B-level fighters at best by the time Munguia fought them. If he’d faced either guy back in 2016, he’d have lost.
Some fans feel that Munguia’s entire career was based on him fighting marginal opposition just to get the Canelo fight. Munguia had been linked to Alvarez’s name from the very beginning as a potential future opponent.
Limited Options for Canelo
“William Scull is the [IBF] mandatory. It’s a much better fight than William Scull,” said Hearn about Berlanga being a better option than Scull. “It’s Mexico vs. Puerto Rico [for the Berlanga fight].”
Of course, Berlanga is a better option than Scull for Canelo because he’s from New York, has fans in the city, and was shown on ESPN and DAZN to the American public. Scull is a fighter that the IBF ranked high based on wins over obscure opposition, and he’s based in Germany. Berlanga is still not a good choice for Canelo, but he’s better than Scull.
“Who else can Canelo Alvarez fight right now other than David Benavidez?” said Hearn. “For whatever reason, he’s moved to light heavyweight, so that doesn’t look like it’s happening.”
Hearn is forgetting David Morrell. Canelo could have fought him, but he chose not to. Instead, Canelo picked Berlanga, and it is easy to see why.
“So, I think Edgar Berlanga is a good pick. I think he’ll give him a good fight, and it’ll be a good event. But I don’t see a lot of other options out there for Canelo Alvarez, if I’m honest. One thing I can say about Canelo Alvarez is he will never duck a challenge. There’s no one he’s afraid of,” said Hearn.
Berlanga is a terrible pick for Canelo, and his popularity has taken a hit because he decided to fight him. Hearn isn’t about to criticize Canelo’s selection of Berlanga because he promotes the New Yorker, and the fight will bring in money. There won’t be anything else for Berlanga because Canelo will blow him out of the water.
After Berlanga loses, Hearn can let him go because he’ll have served his purpose. There won’t be any more big fights for Berlanga, and he won’t be worth keeping on Matchroom’s payroll. After losing to Canelo, Berlanga can only hope for a fight against Caleb Plant, which he’ll likely lose.
