Saul Alvarez known as Canelo is one of the best boxers of our time but has been the face of a lot of controversy regarding himself hand picking all his opponents for easy fights. Canelo has recently announced that he is fighting Edgar Berlanga on the 14th of September, This has sparked lots of controversy amongst the boxing community because they don’t think that Edgar Berlanga has earned the right to fight for 3 belts. Edgar Berlanga is a 27 year old Puerto Rican boxer with a record of 22-0 but there are lots of skeptics saying that he has not done enough to earn a title shot and that this fight will be too easy for Canelo. Amateur boxer Cesar Jaracuaro states “Edgar Berlanga hasn’t done anything in the sport yet” and “ He hasn’t proved himself enough to get a fight with Canelo. Most of this backlash is because of one specific fighter who Canelo is yet to fight, David “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez has been Canelo’s mandatory challenger for the WBC belt for almost 4 years since Canelo gained the belt after a fight with Callum Smith. Lots of People Believe that Canelo is “ducking” Benavidez because he is scared of losing that fight and has said that he will only fight David for 150-200 million dollars. Amatuer boxer and LHS student Alfredo Reyes stated “ David Benavidez has been the mandatory fight for Canelo for 2 years but yet Canelo is still scared to take it because he knows that once he gets in that ring with David Benavidez his career will be over.”
On the night that Canelo will be fighting Edgar Berlanga the undercard of this fight will host Caleb Plant vs Trevor Mcumby. Caleb plant has a record of 22-2 with his only 2 losses coming from the best of the best being David Benavidez and Canelo. Canelo fought Caleb Plant in November of 2021 to unify all 4 belts being that Canelo held the WBC, WBA, and WBO belts at the 168 lbs weight division and Caleb held the IBF belt. The 2 had an amazing fight that ended in Caleb Plant Losing by TKO in the 11th round. This fight unified all the belts at 168 giving Canelo the title of the undisputed champion. Almost 2 years after Caleb faced his first loss he had a fight with David Benavidez in which he lost by unanimous decision after taking a beating for the majority of rounds. Lots of people think that because David wasn’t able to stop Caleb Plant like Canelo did that he is not deserving of the title shot.
David Benavidez has been a threat to Canelos legacy for a long time and it seems to be like Canelo is purposely avoiding David because he is scared of facing his first loss to knockout. Canelo has proven to be one of the best Mexican boxers of all time but will his legacy stand if he ever meets in the ring with The Mexican Monster.
