According to some sportsbooks, which take such wagers, the likelihood of aliens making public contact with Earth is a +900 bet– something which, according to DraftKings, is a greater possibility than Edgar Berlanga beating Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The unproven and under-skilled Berlanga is currently a +1000 underdog against the Mexican superstar and that, probably, is being generous with the 27-year-old from New York.
Realistically, nobody is giving the guy any chance whatsoever. Even the event organizers are straining to sell this fight as anything other than a one-sided drubbing of a mid-carder versus a first-ballot Hall of Famer and a legit Top 5 or 6 pound-for-pound fighter.
Even Berlanga’s nickname, “The Chosen One,” can be put into a negative light ahead of this Canelo fight. He was, most definitely, a hand-chosen one by Canelo and his team, chosen for the express purpose of being chum and wearing Puerto Rican colors into a Mexican Independence Day weekend event.
None of this is to be “mean” to Berlanga. And, yeah, kudos to him for winning the Canelo sweepstakes and getting a nice payoff to be thrashed. There very well could be a future after Canelo. But how much of a chance can you legitimately give a guy who’s skills are still very basic and who has struggled to look good at times against some fairly basic boxing craft? This is a guy, after all, who very recently parted ways with promoter Bob Arum over the savvy Top Rank staff’s request to bring him down a notch and further hone his skills at the mid-card level. This is a guy who, also, boasts Padraig McCrory, Jason Quigley, and Steve Rolls as his high-water mark opposition.
Canelo-Berlanga is certainly not a $90 pay-per-view main event. Even Canelo seems to know that as he smugs his way through the lead-in to the event, smiling in Berlanga’s face during face-offs and talking future plans in carefree media interviews.
The one thing keeping this mismatch event remotely interesting is Berlanga earnest self-delusion.
“I’m fighting a legend, and I’m going to become a legend,” Berlanga told BoxingScene. “It’s my time to shine. I’m destined for this, to take over the sport and become the face by defeating him and retiring him on the night. He already made his mark in the sport. People are tired of him and want a new face.”
And the fighter of Puerto Rican descent seems to legitimately believe that.
In Berlanga’s mixed-up world, he’s already a star who has earned his B-side shot at becoming the new face of boxing.
“[Benavidez and others] don’t sell,” Berlanga insisted. “They don’t have a country behind them. I’m Puerto Rican, and that is a big help to get the fight. They are not somebody that people must watch. When I fight, people want to watch me. Everyone is tuning in. I don’t need a title. I have the credentials from what I bring to the table.
“I got this fight due to my hard work and from my last performance and knockout out Padraig McCrory in February. It definitely set me up and put me in this position.”
Cue the laugh track.
Berlanga has actually been pretty consistent in his delusion. A country’s behind him. Hip-hop culture is behind him. Even Mexico is behind him. Everyone’s ready for a new face of boxing. He’s a major draw. He’s earned this fight. He sees fear in a snickering Canelo’s eyes.
And, oh yeah, he’s totally going to outbox and outsmart Canelo on the 14th.
“It’s about IQ and intelligence in that ring. That’s going to make the difference,” Berlanga told media. “You could have all the power in the world, but at this level, it’s about intelligence.”
Berlanga plans on using the strategy employed by Dmitry Bivol against Canelo in this upcoming fight.
Cue the laugh track, again.
But, hey, this is boxing. If Berlanga strikes with a bolt from the blue, at the right time and in the perfect spot, we could all wind up looking as “off” as Berlanga looks right now.
That’s not very likely, though.
What’s more likely is that we end up getting the mismatch we were all expecting this Saturday, with the only point of intrigue being how Canelo scrambles Berlanga and how quickly Berlanga’s delusion turns into “oh sh*t” reality.
Paul Magno has over forty years of experience in and around the sport of boxing and has had his hand in everything from officiating to training. As a writer, his work has appeared on Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Fight Hype, Max Boxing, Boxing.com, Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules, Overtime Heroics, Bleacher Report, and Premier Boxing Champions. He is currently the owner and managing editor or The Boxing Tribune. You can follow his Twitter/X account, @boxing_tribune, for breaking boxing news, analysis, and sometimes NSFW commentary. For Advertising, Inquiries, etc., send him an email here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com