Canelo Alvarez defined to the media right this moment on the closing press convention why he picked Egar Berlanga as his opponent for September 14th, saying that he wished him to grow to be of the “Mexico vs. Puerto Rico” rivalry.
Alvarez felt that Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), an American of Puerto Rican descent, can be the perfect opponent for him to defend his unified tremendous middleweight titles in opposition to on the T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas.
Whereas Canelo’s rationale could not sit properly with hardcore boxing followers, who would have most popular David Benavidez as his opponent, Berlanga is the one he selected for the Mexican Independence Day vacation.
“Mexico vs. Puerto Rico”
“I fought everyone already. I used to be on trip, and [trainer] Eddy [Reynoso] known as me. He was engaged on the struggle. I advised him, ‘I don’t care. I fought everyone,’ and I feel it’s a great struggle for the individuals. Mexico vs. Puerto Rico, there’s a number of historical past there, and I feel it’s an excellent match,” mentioned Canelo Alvarez on the closing press convention right this moment, explaining why he selected Edgar Berlanga as his opponent for September 14th.
Berlanga isn’t from Puerto Rico, however he identifies extra with that nation than the U.S., the place he was born and lived his whole life. So, that makes him Puerto Rican in Canelo’s eyes for this struggle, however that doesn’t sit proper with Oscar De La Hoya, who feels that Berlanga isn’t an genuine Puerto Rican if he wasn’t born in that nation.
“It was a number of forwards and backwards at first as a result of the numbers received to make sense,” mentioned Berlanga, explaining how lengthy it took for him to resolve whether or not to take the Canelo struggle when it was provided to him.
“I got here out right here in Might [in Las Vegas] for when Canelo fought Munguia, and the followers had been going loopy. They had been saying, ‘We wish you for September. We wish you.’ The Mexican followers had been going loopy,” Berlanga continued.
That was the place Berlanga was strolling round at ht Canelo-Munguia struggle, enjoying Mexican music and singing in Spanish, brazenly campaigning for the struggle with Canelo.
Some followers noticed that for example of Berlanga debasing himself, kissing as much as get the lottery payday with out working for it by preventing Benavidez or David Morrell, nevertheless it labored in his favor.
Canelo picked him, and now he’s going to make thousands and thousands. Even when the rest of Berlanga’s profession goes downhill from right here, he’ll have the cash he created from the Canelo struggle to dwell off.
“Then I received the press convention in New York with Ryder, and Luis [Decubas] was there. I mentioned, ‘Yo, we received to make the struggle occur in September. He reached out to Eddie [Hearn], after which we began working from there,” mentioned Berlanga.
“After his [Canelo] victory over Munguia, we began pushing the difficulty for the struggle, and we received it. Persons are going to say I’m not going to go the total 12 rounds due to my profession and who I fought. Seeing my identify is a blessing,” mentioned Berlanga.
