Canelo vs. Berlanga is Official…And So Is The Fan Outrage

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As reported here at BoxingNews.co on Tuesday, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will face Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in the main event of a pay-per-view PBC on Prime show from Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend. On Thursday, the bout was officially announced by all parties involved in the contest.

And, boy, the fans are not happy.

Aside from a few die-hard Canelo-can-do-no-wrong true believers, nobody is pleased with this announcement. Well, Berlanga’s team, as well as Berlanga and Canelo themselves, might be celebrating the money coming their way. But that’s about it. Nobody else seems all that happy to accept this super middleweight bout as a worthwhile fit-for-PPV event.

Opening betting odds show Alvarez as a -1450 favorite — something which says everything you need to know about how competitive this bout is likely to be. Anybody who knows a bit about boxing and has seen both fighters compete will concur that Berlanga stands almost no chance of beating the Mexican star.

The long shot mismatch crosses over from frustrating to nauseating when it’s taken into account that there already was a longstanding consensus no. 1 contender for Canelo’s super middleweight crown– David Benavidez.

The undefeated pressure fighter, originally from Phoenix, is universally regarded as not only the top contender to Canelo, but also the most commercially viable opponent for the boxing cash cow.

Alvarez, however, has refused to answer the calls to take on Benavidez. The snubbing has sent Benavidez up to light heavyweight to pursue big bouts there. 168 lb. Cuban sensation David Morrell has learned from Benavidez’s fruitless efforts to wrangle a Canelo fight and is also moving up to light heavyweight.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand…

The fans are rightfully p**sed to be getting Canelo versus an opponent who’s yet to face a single true main stage opponent. They’re outraged to have “the face of boxing” wasting time with a fighter whose high-water mark victories have come against opposition that wouldn’t even make for good sparring partners in an Alvarez camp.

Here’s just a little bit of the fan reaction on Thursday to the official Canelo vs. Berlanga announcement:

The Canelo-Berlanga announcement even brought former Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya into troll mode, as he openly mocked his former fighter’s choice of opposition.

Youtube video

 



Last Updated on 07/26/2024