Berlanga’s Only Hope: An Early Onslaught Against Canelo

Roy Jones Jr. says the best shot Edgar Berlanga has of beating Canelo Alvarez is to go after him right away, looking to hurt him on Saturday in their 12-round clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Berlanga’s Vulnerability and Lack of Experience

If Berlanga loses this fight, he’s got a long way back. Next time, Berlanga would need to fight actual top-tier contenders to get back in position to compete for a world title. The way he’s looked, it’s questionable whether he can do it.

Jones Jr. feels that if Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) can’t get to Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) in the first three rounds, it’ll be too late. Berlanga, 27, doesn’t possess the chin to take Canelo’s shots for long without getting knocked out.

We’ve seen Berlanga hurt by Marcelo Esteban Coceres, a giant Roamer Alexis Angulo, and Steve Rolls in panic mode. He’s not made for taking shots, and it doesn’t help that he’s never fought a world-class fighter.

The cans that Matchroom and Top Rank have fed Berlanga wouldn’t last a minute against even bottom 15-ranked contenders. They obviously didn’t want to take any chances with Berlanga until he got the cash-out against Canelo, and now he’s got it, but he’s ill-prepared for the moment. He only has a puncher’s chance.

A Puncher’s Chance

“Edgar Berlanga is going to have to go out right away and see if he can hurt Canelo, which I’ve never seen him hurt before in a fight,” said Roy Jones Jr. to the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel when asked what Edgar Berlanga must do to defeat Canelo Alvarez this Saturday, September 14th.

“If Edgar can hurt Canelo because he’s the bigger guy, he has a chance. Now, you put Canelo in a place where, ‘I don’t want to get hit by this guy. I need to change the way I operate.’ Bivol put him in a place where Canelo had to respect his punching power because Bivol was a light heavyweight and a bigger guy.

“Berlanga has got to go out and get that respect right away. He’s got to be able to absorb what Canelo brings to his chin. Bivol was able to withstand what Canelo brought to his chin, and he was able to bring back better than what Canelo brought him,” said Roy Jr.

Berlanga definitely has got to go for it, and I hope he can catch Canelo with a big enough shot to stun him. He’s got the power to hurt anyone in the division, but he’s easy to hit and doesn’t focus on his defense. He hasn’t had to due to the opposition Matchroom and Top Rank have pitted against him.

Can Berlanga Take the Onslaught?

“Can this guy do that? Can Berlanga take the onslaught just as good or better? That’s going to be the question because if he can take the onslaught and return it, then we’ve got ourselves a great fight. If he can’t take the onslaught, then we’ve got a fight that is going to be good for three rounds, and then it’s going to be over,” said Jone Jr.

What Berlanga has in his favor is that Canelo didn’t look good in his last fight against Jaime Munguia last May. He ran out of gas in the second half, and this allowed Munguia to come on and land some big shots. That may not happen this time because Canelo will be connecting with a lot of hard shots that could knock out Berlanga early.

“What you tell him is to go out there and put Canelo on the defense. Use your feints and keep Canelo on the defense,” said Roy.

Even if Berlanga can get Canelo on defense, he’s going to have to worry about his return fire because he’s a counterpuncher. Whatever Berlanga throws, Canelo will be firing back with heavy shots, making him pay for his aggressiveness.