WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed that his organization has created the ‘Tamaulipas II’ belt, which will be presented to the winner of the clash between unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas become .
The unnecessary belt
Fans on social media are having a field day toasting WBC President Sulaiman for creating the special ‘Tamaulipas II. ‘ They see it as an attempt to get some cheap publicity while at the same time taking him in on Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) to stay on his good side.
Creating another belt is a waste of time because Canelo doesn’t need it, and Berlanga won’t be impressed if he emerges victorious.
The best thing Sulaiman and the WBC can do is waive the sanctioning fee for their 168 pound belt that Canelo holds so he can save money. Now, that would be something he would appreciate much more than being given another trinket belt.
WBC TAMAULIPAS BELT FOR CANELO VS BERLANGA #Canelo #box #box #wbc #fy #mexico pic.twitter.com/CTXN0tyctd
— Upperbox (@Upper_Box) September 2, 2024
“I would love for him to beat Canelo and take all those belts away, then all these other fighters have an opportunity,” trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. said. told the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, saying he wants Edgar Berlanga to upset Canelo Alvarez on September 14th.
Unfortunately for Jose Sr., Berlanga isn’t expected to defeat Canelo, and it’s a waste of time for him to hope that he might pull off a miracle ignition. Berlanga is out of his league with this fight, and if his promoters believed in him they would have been testing him against quality opposition all these years instead of pitting him against tomato cans.
“With Canelo, you never know what’s going on. Berlanga at this stage does not have the power to choose and do whatever he wants to do,” says Jose Sr. “I think it will give more opportunities for 168s, but Canelo is a great fighter pound-for-pound. I think he can adapt, and this style of going will suit him to beat Berlanga.”
Had Berlanga spent the last eight years fighting good opposition instead of the worst of the worst, he would have been in a better position to achieve the goal. But his management clearly suited him. They noticed how he struggled against the C-level opposition against him and thought it better to put him up against good fighters.
Benavidez Sr. ulterior motive
“I cheer for Berlanga. I like him,” says Jose Sr. “Like I said, the reason I want him to beat Canelo is so all these other fighters can have an opportunity to fight for the belts. I feel that Canelo has held these belts hostage for a long time. They already took one away. He still has three of them.”
Jose Sr’s son David Benavidez already has a full plate of food as he is mandatory for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol winner. Jose should be happy with that pick for David because he’s going to get a big payday for fighting the winner. Benavidez doesn’t need to fight Berlanga because it’s unlikely he can make 168 now that he’s fighting at 175.
“Who will he fight next after Berlanga? I will be happy if Berlanga can beat him. Maybe we fight Berlanga,” Jose Sr. said.
With this comment above, Benavidez Sr. reveals. ultimately why he wants Berlanga to defeat Canelo so badly. He heard Berlanga’s comments that he was interested in fighting Benavidez if he prevailed over Canelo. So, now Jose Sr. is snooping. around, hoping that he can fight for his son, David Benavidez, against Berlanga.
Canelo’s criticism of David Benavidez
“He (Canelo) said that David (Benavidez) didn’t look good in his last fight (against Oleksandr Gvozdyk). He didn’t look good against (Jermell) Charlo, a small guy. He mentions David a bit. I don’t know why,” Jose Sr. said.
Canelo tells no lies. Benavidez looked awful in his debut at 175 against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
Gvozdyk dominated the entire second half of the contest, but was given a raw deal by the Nevada judges, who scored it for Benavidez by a wide 12-round unanimous decision. Canelo saw the fight and noted that Benavidez could do “nothing” now that he’s fighting in his proper weight class at 175.
The judges did nothing to hide the fact that Benavidez is not the same fighter he was at 168 and will be out of his league when he faces the winner of the October 12th fight between light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol.
“We can go down to 168 and make that fight (with Canelo) happen. David doesn’t have a problem making 168, but right now we’re trying to get Bivol-Beterbiev, and hopefully we can make that fight.”
Jose Benavidez Sr. must understand that Canelo will never fight his son, David Benavidez. That doesn’t happen, and Jose Sr. should know that by now.
Benavidez is where he needs to be right now, fighting at 175 and looking poor, competing against fighters his own size. He has had a reputation of being a weight bully all these years and should have fought at 175 from day one when he started his career 11 years ago in 2013.
