Canelo Could Push Edgar Berlanga to his Limits
On September 14, super middleweight contender Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO’s) will face unified 168-pound champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (61–2-2, 39 KO’s) in the biggest fight of his career. Yet, Berlanga recently revealed that, in the not too distant past, he nearly walked away from the sport. In the aftermath of his bout with Roamer Angulo, who he bit and was later suspended for, Berlanga fell deeply into the bad graces of the boxing public. And as he revealed to DAZN Boxing, this was a realm that had him looking at the exit door.
“It was a tough decision. I was suspended for the Angulo thing and that was the first time in my career, in my life, that I had so much backlash . . .I never had so much backlash, so I sort of went into a little depression and then I was suspended. I didn’t know when I was fighting. I was away from Mark [Farrait], I wanted to get with Mark, my trainer who made me. I wasn’t with him so I wanted to get back with him. So there was so much going on during that time. Like, yo, if I don’t get with Mark, the guy that made me, I was telling my dad, ‘yo, I think I am going to quit!’”
OLD HABITS DIE HARD
For many fans of The Chosen One, this may come as very distressing news. Not because he may still leave the sport, but because it’s a mental stress fracture that may rear its head again. During the fight that he referenced against Angulo, after getting angry and flummoxed, Berlanga chomped down on his opponent’s ear. No matter how you slice it, the gross infraction took place due to The Chosen One mentally crumbling in the heat of the moment.
Later, by his own admission, when facing the heat of his poor decisions, Berlanga nearly crumbled again and threw his whole career away. So, it is not beyond the scope of reason to wonder if some of this mental instability will play a factor in his upcoming duel with Canelo. While Berlanga has repeatedly insisted that his skills and in-ring IQ will save the day for him, the popular opinion is that these are by far the weakest attributes that he will bring to the fight.
So, if he finds himself getting thoroughly outboxed on the biggest stage of his life how will The Chosen One handle himself under those hot lights? Will he display a fortitude of steel and carry himself like a true soldier? Or, will Berlanga resort to some underhanded and immature tactic to escape the situation? Only time will tell, but for the time being, history is not only his side!
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