Edgar Berlanga’s best chance to upset Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night is to blast him in the first quarter of the fight, unload on him with full salvos and a quick knockout on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to search
The Blitz: Berlanga’s Early Assault
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) is in his best element when he goes right after his opponents, because that’s when his power is at full capacity. He knocked out his first 16 opponents in the first round by going all out from 2016 to 2020.
Granted, those fighters were taxi driver quality, but knocking anyone out quickly shows the kind of punch Berlanga possesses.
Additionally, like David Benavidez, Berlanga is another example of a fighter shedding large amounts of weight to compete at 168 and should probably be fighting fighters his size at 175.
A light heavyweight in disguise
Berlanga is still young enough to shed the water weight to get to super middleweight without depleting his strength. So, on Saturday, Canelo will essentially be fighting a light heavyweight with the power of a fighter from the 175-lb division.
This is another reason why Berlanga has a chance to win this fight if he can land his powerful punches in rounds one through three. If he can’t knock Canelo out during the fight, his chances of winning drop to nothing.
“It depends on how precise Berlanga is with his hitting power. If he is precise with his punches, he will make Canelo keep his hands at home. He won’t be willing to fight back,” Roy Jones Jr. said. told the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, discussing the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga fight on Saturday.
Precision is the key
Berlanga is never precise with his punches. That’s the problem. He throws full-force wing shots at them, and many of them miss the mark, even against the C- and D-level fighters his promoters at Matchroom and Top Rank have fed him. He’s wild with punches, looking for quick knockouts, and that approach will leave plenty of openings for Canelo if his accuracy hasn’t improved.
If Berlanga is accurate with his shots, Canelo is going to be in a world of hurt on Saturday because this guy is a true light heavyweight with power that puts him up there with the top guys in the 175-lb division. He doesn’t have Artur Beterbiev-type power, but he’s close.
“If they’re not precise shots, then Canelo is going to get in between,” Roy Jr. said of Berlanga. “It will be determined by how good Berlanga’s punches are. For three or four rounds it’s going to be fantastic if it lasts that long.”
Berlanga is going to be a headache for Canelo through three rounds, and it wouldn’t be a shock if he knocks out the Mexican star or puts him down two or three times. However, he needs to be accurate with his shots because if he misses, as we’ve seen in the past, Canelo will stack him up.
Can Berlanga weather the storm?
“I don’t know if Berlanga can take Canelo’s punch. I think Canelo can take his because I haven’t seen Canelo really get hurt in a fight,” Jones Jr. said. -round knockouts, which tells you he has exceptional punching power, and if he catches someone right at any time, he can take them out.”
The uppercut with which Canelo dropped Jaime Munguia in the fourth round in their fight on May 4 of this year is likely to knock out Berlanga. Even if he got up from that shot, Canelo would finish him off quickly. Amazingly, Munguia survived being dropped by that shot as he was badly injured and would have been easily finished if Canelo had thrown it up.
“That’s why he has to use it in this fight. If he doesn’t use it, what good does it do you to build that reputation? I think he gives a better fight than Munguia, but other than down the road, I don’t know if it will be as good a fight because I don’t know if he can withstand the stuff that Munguia withstands and stay came to . I don’t know if Berlanga can take that kind of punishment and keep going,” said Roy Jr.
Berlanga has already shown in his fights against the drifter Alexis Angulo, Steve Rolls and Marcelo Esteban Coceres that he doesn’t have a good gas tank to fight hard in the later rounds. He is a very average fighter in the championship rounds, and seems more C-level than A-level in quality. If Berlanga is still around at that point in the fight, Canelo will wipe him out.
You can’t run away @EdgarBerlangaJr as soon as he hurt you. He is the definition of hitting through the guard.
Order the #CaneloBerlanga fight today: https://t.co/eGeOKgB6pI pic.twitter.com/oFjkZwIzHc
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) September 7, 2024
