Canelo Alvarez is set to defend his unified super-middleweight titles against undefeated Puerto Rican Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night and both men are seeking a knockout win. However, upon hearing Berlanga’s prediction for the fight, the Mexican superstar struggled to keep a straight face.
Berlanga made a name for himself by winning the first 16 professional bouts of his career via first-round stoppages, putting the division on notice and convincing many that he could become a dominant champion in the future.
However, since that run was ended with a points win against Desmond Nicholson in 2021, ‘The Chosen One’ had underwhelmed and has been the beneficiary of some controversial scorecards.
Yet, after five consecutive decision victories, Berlanga put in an impressive display to halt Padraig McCrory earlier this year and has earnt this Saturday’s shot at Alvarez’s unified WBC, WBA & WBO titles as a result.
At the grand arrivals for the event, Edgar Berlanga told of his prediction to end the contest within six rounds and become the first man to stop Canelo Alvarez.
“I am ready, I have been in this game for over 20 years, we are about to make history, man. It is something special that is going to happen this weekend.
“This is war, it is Puerto Rico versus Mexico, it is something for the history books. As far as seeing Canelo, we always have respect for him and for his accolades, what he has done in the sport of boxing, but it is a fight on September 14th. We have got a big fight this weekend, he is going in there to hurt me and I have got to go in there to hurt him.
“I am going to knock him out in the sixth round. He told me eight rounds, I got him in six.”
As for Canelo, the arguable ‘face of boxing’ is also in need of a knockout win, after going the distance in five back-to-back outings – the longest stretch of contests without a stoppage in his 65-fight career.
In a clip captured by Boxing News, Alvarez smiled as he explained that Berlanga brings nothing new to the table and revealed that he expects that the clash will not go past eight rounds.
“We will see. It is easy to say [that] but [on] Saturday he is going to see something different. It’s easy to say, we will see.
“Yeah, [I think I will knock him out in the eighth-round] or less.
“He is a good fighter, he is strong, young, but he is nothing new for me. I have fought everybody, every style, bigger than me, younger than me, older than me and so I know everything about boxing. I have a lot of experience, and he is going to feel it on Saturday night.”
Canelo-Berlanga takes place on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be available to watch live on Amazon Prime Video PPV around the globe.
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