Edgar Berlanga has revealed his plan to get a quick rematch with Canelo Alvarez by capturing the IBF super middleweight title. It’s a sneaky, weasel-like strategy that Berlanga has dreamed up, with almost no chance of getting the rematch with Canelo.
It’s not clear if Berlanga came up with the idea himself or if his management came up with it to get a quick second payday fight against Canelo, but it seems to be somewhere in the middle.
The Matchroom-promoted Berlanga believes that if he can win the IBF belt, he and Canelo can meet for the undisputed 168lb championship next year.
The US boxing public doesn’t care that much about titles. They want to see great fights between popular fighters who are winning, not losing, one-sided fights, like we saw with Berlanga last night. After his loss to Canelo, Berlanga needs to do a lot more than just win the IBF title to get a rematch with the Mexican star.
Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) was outclassed Saturday night, losing a wide 12-round unanimous decision to WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) at the T- Mobile Arena. in Las Vegas.
The scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110. Berlanga primarily threw jabs and wasn’t willing to throw power punches. Berlanga displayed a good chin while soaking up a lot of hard shots from Canelo. One reason for that was Berlanga’s size.
Edgar looked like a lightweight inside the ring last night and had a huge size advantage over Canelo. With the extra weight, Berlanga could take shots that he wouldn’t be able to take if he was fighting in the 175-lb division against Artur Beterbiev. The way Berlanga fought last night, Artur Beterbiev would have met him in three rounds.
Berlanga thinks he fought well enough that the fans want to see him and Canelo take him back next year.
Berlanga is trying to take a shortcut to a quick rematch against Canelo for a second giant payday by capturing the IBF title by beating the winner of the October 19 fight between William Scull and Vladimir Shishkin.
It’s understandable why Berlanga is targeting the IBF title as a backdoor route to a lucrative rematch against Canelo. Those two fighters, Shishkin and Scull, are very beatable and will likely lose to many of the top 10 contenders.
#1 Scull and #2 Shishkin will meet for the vacant IBF 168-lb title next month on October 19th in Germany. If Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn can set up a fight between the winner of that fight and Berlanga, the New Yorker can potentially capture the IBF title.
Even with the IBF title, Berlanga’s popularity will not increase much because Scull and Shishkin are not known to US fans. Berlanga will have to do a lot more than just beat the likes of Scull or Shishkin to quickly increase interest in a second fight with Canelo.
Alvarez will lose money fighting Berlanga again because a rematch won’t sell to the American public after what they saw on Saturday night. Berlanga lost every round of the fight and was like an overmatched punching bag. He wasn’t the next Gennadiy Golovkin or Miguel Cotto. It was Munguia 2.0, and fans don’t want to pay to watch a rematch between Canelo and him.
“I know the IBF is out. So whoever wins the IBF, I’d like to fight the winner of them. I think it’s (Vladimir) Shishkin and William Scull fighting for the IBF. So whoever wins this, I’d like to fight go get that title, and then see if we can do a rematch with Canelo next year for the undisputed,” Edgar Berlanga told Matchroom Boxing. channel about his plans after his loss to Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night.
Capturing the IBF super middleweight title against obscure fighters, Scull or Shishkin won’t be enough for Berlanga to get a quick rematch against Canelo. Unless the Mexican superstar feels generous and wants to help Berlanga, he can make more money fighting other fighters.
Fight fans want to see from Canelo:
- David Benavidez
- Terence Crawford
- Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev winner
“I know (Canelo) will give me an opportunity. It was an incredible fight. So, I’m going to talk to him to see if he can wait and let me try to beat one of these guys. Capture the IBF so I can be world champion, and we can run an uncontested for real now,” said Berlanga.
You can understand why Berlanga wants to get a second payday against Canelo, but you have to earn it. Going the easy route to getting that second mega-million payday is weak. If Berlanga wants the rematch with Canelo, he must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to take on David Benavidez, David Morrell, Beterbiev, Bivol, Christian Mbilli, or Osleys Iglesias.
“I already had the experience. I had to feel his power. He had to feel my power, and it would be a great fight.”
