Hello boxing fans and dedicated haters. Here’s another week’s worth of my bulbous sack, bulging with gooey, salty truth, in your face. Enjoy. This week, we have comments/questions regarding last Saturday’s Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga bout.
Canelo-Berlanga Fake Narratives, Berlanga’s Future
Hi, Magno.
As always wishing, you and your family the best.
No matter how hard the promotion tried to make the Canelo vs Berlanga a Puerto Rico vs Mexico clash, the fans never believed it. Telling a lie one thousand times doesn't make it true. The only Puerto Rican flag that the Amazon Prime production could find during the event, was the one that Berlanga's team brought to the fight. Our anthem wasn't played either. I was glad though, that Berlanga didn't embarrass himself, using that survival mode technique, jab, jab and staying away from danger unless he really had to, in some exchanges. I personally think that Berlanga doesn't have confidence in himself and doesn't seem to be able to pull the trigger with hard shots, except for the jab. He lost his confidence when he started going the full distance with better competition. I foresee him fighting a couple of third tier opponents to rebuild his confidence and falling short again when he fights any one of the following opponents-- Munguia, Plant, Pacheco, or Mbili. These opponents may be flawed but can still pull the trigger and go for the KO. Take care
– Benjamin from Puerto Rico.
Hey Benjamin.
There was a lot of phoniness in that Canelo-Berlanga farce-- before, during, and after the fight. There were a lot of forced narratives for the sake of business. The Mexico vs. Puerto Rico angle was one of them. Another was this idea that Berlanga actually put up a game, valiant fight. It’s crazy just how easily people are swept up in a narrative. It’s especially shocking when it comes to how easily media, which supposedly exists to put things in proper perspective, gets swept up in a narrative. They were actually talking up Canelo-Berlanga like it was a real fight. They were swept into the silly narrative that Berlanga actually impressed and that he put up a better effort than expected (despite throwing an average of just four more punches per round than Jermell Charlo, who was widely criticized for turning in a weak, timid effort in his loss to Alvarez last September). This fight was a blowout and, very early into the contest, Berlanga made the decision to not “go for it” by not opening up and not really, truly trying. In turn, Canelo made the corresponding decision to not push too hard and to let Berlanga lose in the way he silently, maybe subconsciously, chose to lose. Meh. The whole thing was a waste of everyone’s money. The only ones on that card who get an A for effort were Caleb Plant and Trevor McCumby.
As for Berlanga’s future? I agree with your assessment. Berlanga is not an “A” player. There’s some mental frailty there, something that’s just not “right” with the kid’s head and that will probably play a role in the way he develops. He reminds me of Teofimo Lopez in that regard, except Lopez actually has a pretty solid skill set to fall back on. Berlanga is big, awkward, and can punch a bit (even though his one-punch power at the top tier of the division is vastly overstated). He’ll beat the gatekeepers and journeyman, but he’s likely to come up short against most, if not all, the top guys.
What’s Next For Canelo?
Hi Paul.
Now that Canelo Alvarez did the predictable and beat Berlanga, what do you see as his next move. He talked about a rematch with Bivol. How likely is that? How about Terence Crawford? There aren’t a whole lot of good options for him at this point. If you could read cinnamon’s mind, what do you see as his next move?
– Alberto
Hey Alberto.
I like how you didn’t even mention David Benavidez. Kudos for being a realist. He’s also not going to fight Bivol. As I wrote in Monday’s Notes from the Boxing Underground: “But the Bivol talk prior to Berlanga was just an indication that Canelo was hearing all the criticism regarding Saturday’s fight. When a promoter starts talking up the “next” fight before the current fight, you know he’s shook-- and Canelo is most definitely his own promoter in every sense of the word these days. He ain’t fighting Bivol, though. Not in a million years. He had two years to pursue that rematch and couldn’t run far enough the other way from making it happen. Canelo’s a smart guy. He knows that a rematch would not go any better than the first go ‘round and could conceivably go a whole lot worse. Plus, Bivol has his unification bout with Artur Beterbiev next month.”
So, without Benavidez and Bivol, that doesn’t leave much. I actually think that a Crawford fight is very possible, despite the public beef between Canelo and Crawford’s sugar daddy/advisor Turki Alalshikh. There’ll be big money in it and big attention as well. Plus, I think Canelo is pretty confident at this point that he beats Crawford. If the Crawford fight doesn’t happen, Chris Eubank Jr. is the most likely option. Eubank has name value and looks the part of a real challenge, but has no realistic shot at winning. He’s the perfect opponent for this Canelo retirement tour.
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.