Canelo Answers For Choosing Edgar Berlanga Over Benavidez
When next answering the call of duty, unified super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO’s) will face Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO’s). They will carry on the storied Mexico versus Puerto Rico rivalry under the hot lights of the T-Mobile Arena on September 14. Without question however, there will be a good measure of pushback on this fight.
The reason for this incongruity is the resident elephant in the room – David “The Monster” Benavidez. He has chased a fight with Alvarez for years. Not only has Benavidez called for the first extremely vocally, he’s maintained a mandatory position for the fight for years. Nevertheless, Canelo has all but religiously shunned any notion of facing The Monster. In fact, he famously belittled Benavidez, questioning his worth in the sport based on his merits.
POTS AND KETTLES POINTING FINGERS
Ironically, now that Alvarez has selected Berlanga, one must ask themselves: what has The Chosen One done to warrant this golden opportunity? Sure, he is the WBA mandatory and ranked as their #1 contender. Yet, as previously mentioned, Benavidez rose to the station of Canelo’s mandatory challenger via the WBC long before then.
Outside of this, Benavidez is a two-time champion with a far stronger resume than Berlanga. Going further, Benavidez versus Alvarez is a legitimate money fight, so even the financial side of facing The Monster is agreeable. So somewhat painted in a corner, when flat out asked at the official presser why he is not dancing with Benavidez next, Canelo had little more than rhetoric and heritage to hang his hat on.
“I think this is a good fight for the people. Mexico versus Puerto Rico [is] always a great fight and I think it’s a good fight for the people.”
ONLY A HIT DOG HOLLAR
As the first question posed to Canelo was about The Monster, when The Chosen One was first afforded the stage to speak, he very quickly volunteered negative commentary on Benavidez. This only helped to further underscore how looming the two-time champion is in the minds of the public and the fighters themselves.
Obviously, he and Canelo will dance next. Yet blindly and seemingly pointlessly naysaying a potential future duel with The Monster seems counterproductive. So first, let’s see how the cookie crumbles on September 14 and then we all will experience the next chapter in this ongoing and as yet unrealized rivalry.
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