Promoter Eddie Hearn has gone in to bat for super middleweight king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 61-2-2 (39) after the Mexican superstar faced criticism from certain sections of fans and the media after selecting Edgar Berlanga Jr 22-0 (17) as his next opponent.
The 34-year-old Alvarez will defend his Ring Magazine, WBC, WBA and WBO titles against Puerto Rican Berlanga Jr, 27, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 14.
Hearn, who has worked with Alvarez on previously fights and promotes Berlanga Jr, says the criticism is ill-founded and Berlanga Jr is comparable to other Alvarez opponents.
“Jaime Munguia was on a great run [when he fought Canelo],” the Matchroom Boxing boss said to Boxing News.
“He stopped John Ryder. I don’t see too many dissimilarities between Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga. That’s a fairly even fight, but Edgar Berlanga is the [WBA] mandatory.”
In a separate interview with iFL TV, Hearn said he was proud to deliver the fight for Berlanga, who had put his trust in him to get him the biggest payday of his career.
“We delivered our promises to Edgar Berlanga, but not actually in the circumstances that I would have expected,” said Hearn.
“I would expect us to be representing Canelo and doing a deal for him to fight Berlanga.
“We did even better than that. We did a deal with PBC for the fight, but we delivered our promises to Edgar Berlanga. We said, ‘Two fights [Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory], maybe three, and you can fight Canelo Alvarez,’ and we done it.
“I love the fight because I know what Edgar is all about. He’s a strong 168-pounder, very aggressive, who punches very hard and he will do everything in that ring. He’ll give his absolute soul to try and beat Canelo Alvarez.
“I’ll be on Edgar Berlanga’s side, but also, I can’t lie about my fondness of Canelo Alvarez.”
Hearn was always confident that a deal would reach to make the fight, not the least because it features a Mexican and a Puerto Rican, one of the great international rivalries in boxing. It did hurt that Berlanga Jr is the WBA mandatory contender either.
Still, Hearn admits that there was a bit of luck involved too.
“I think he’s an incredible fighter and I think he’s a great guy, but we got the golden ticket to the Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” he said.
“We won the lottery because everyone is queuing up for a pick. We liked our spot from the start with the mandatory challenger, an undefeated Puerto Rican fighter; we felt we’d get the fight.”
“We got it and got the right deal. We’re grateful to PBC and Edgar will give it everything in a massive fight.”
