Promoter Eddie Hearn is putting a positive spin on Edgar Berlanga’s loss to Canelo Alvarez, suggesting he is now the second most popular fighter in the super middleweight division after his “competitive” defeat last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Hearn says Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) has “frustrated” unified super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) with his ring IQ at times. Canelo was frustrated, but for a different reason than Berlanga’s ring IQ. He was upset by the headbutts, low blows, rabbit punches and illegal straight arms that Berlanga used.
It appeared Berlanga was just there to survive the entire night and didn’t fight hard until the 12th round. In the other rounds, Berlanga looked too scared to throw his power punches for fear of being countered by Canelo again. After Berlanga was knocked down in round three, he played it safe and mainly threw jabs.
Hearn and casual boxing fans celebrated Berlanga afterward just because he got knocked out, but they didn’t have the insight to see that he was just trying to survive and not win. He was there to go 12 rounds.
The Matchroom promoter Hearn tries to paint a false picture that Berlanga fought in a heroic manner, but that is not the reality. He was less impressive than Canelo’s previous opponent Jaime Munguia, who fought harder and actually won four rounds last May. Munguia was more courageous.
“He never really looked out of his depth there. We were well beaten by a legend, but it was always competitive the rounds,” said Eddie Hearn during the post-fight press conferenceand praised his fighter Edgar Berlanga after his loss to Canelo Alvarez.
It was only competitive because Canelo didn’t have the size or the gas tank to finish Berlanga due to his large 6’1″, 193-lb frame during the fight. If Canelo’s conditioning was better, he would have knocked Berlanga out by the fourth round because he was there to be stopped if he could put his punches together instead of just charging in with single punches.
“For me it was the boxes he ticked. The impregnable chin. He took every shot in the artillery of Canelo Alvarez. The knockdown was an incredible left hook. It was kind of a lightning strike. He was never really hurt during the whole fight,” Hearn said.
Berlanga’s weight of 193 pounds is the reason he was able to take Canelo’s punches. When a light heavyweight takes on a super middleweight, they can withstand their punches much better than when they compete in their natural weight class.
If you stick Berlanga against light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, we’ll see how good his chin is. It is clear that Berlanga will never fight Beterbiev because his management is too calculated to dare to put him in with someone who will knock him out and cut off the spigot to the oil well that pumps in that black gold.
“Even when he got dropped, he came back, fired back, and the people loved it. His ring IQ, which we knew was better than people expected, was good at times and frustrated Canelo Alvarez,” Hearn said.
Berlanga got up from the third round takedown and just took the punishment for the rest of the fight and played it safe. He used a lot of illegal rowhouse tactics that angered Canelo, so he was frustrated with him.
“As I told him earlier. He secured his entire life (with millions) and his family’s life forever at such a young age, and this is just the beginning because right now you have to say he is the #1 name in the division outside of Canelo Alvarez , and there’s a big fight out there for him,” Hearn said of Berlanga.
Berlanga is more popular because of his fan base in New York City than the other contenders in the 168-lb division, but he is far behind in the talent department. However, Berlanga is not really a true super middleweight. He is a light heavyweight who comes down to 168 to compete against smaller fighters.
Berlanga is like another David Benavidez-type weight bully, but with less talent, more of a self-promoter (Read: out of touch braggart), and has a shorter shelf life. He needs to be protected more than Benavidez.
“I almost feel like he’s a new signing because we knew he was a big star before, but now I feel like we have one of the biggest stars in the division. I think the return route and the return plan is going to be very nice,” Hearn said.
When Hearn says “comeback,” that’s code for soft opponents like the ones he was matched up against to build his 22-0 record to give him the Canelo payday. Hearn is selling a fake product to the public and trying to make it look better than it is. Berlanga is the equivalent of fools gold, and only the naive fans believe that he is the genuine 24k gold real thing.
Berlanga is not a new star, and Hearn is not going to be able to turn him into a steady money maker, like an oil well pumping black gold for many years. Without protecting Berlanga by putting him against soft opposition that the fans won’t be excited to see, he’s going to lose if Hearn beats him against good opposition.
When I say, ‘Good’, I’m not talking about Caleb Plant, Diego Pacheco, Jaime Munguia and Christian Mbilli. Berlanga will lose to those guys. If Hearn puts Berlanga in with a high caliber fighter like David Benavidez, David Morrell or Osleys Inglesias, he will be knocked out.
