Edgar Berlanga gets the opportunity he’s been hoping for as he faces Canelo Alvarez in the pay-per-view main event on Saturday, September 2. 14 in Las Vegas.

Canelo, who made headlines this week for being the first major boxing fighter not to immediately bend the knee to the whims of Saudi promoter Turki Alalshikh, is the clear favorite in this fight, currently valued at -1400 by DraftKings Sportsbook.

However, Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO) feels that he can continue his winning fight in his first professional fight as an underdog, and an extremely essential one at that.

“Tell him to come out swinging in the first round,” Berlanga told Matchroom cameras. “Look what will happen to him, I will put him on his ass. I give it six. It’s a fact.”

“I’ve already learned, he likes to run for the first two or three rounds to get a feel for you,” he continued. “But then let him try to open up. Let him try to open up and see what happens to him. You heard me, I’ll tell him I’m nasty.

Berlanga obviously gained momentum on ESPN and Top Rank when he started his career with 16 straight wins before first-round stoppages, but as soon as that streak inevitably came to an end in 2021, most of the hype rose with him.

He won five straight fights by decision before stopping Padraig McCroy in February this year, and along the way he parted ways with Top Rank to sign with Matchroom, with the Canelo fight his main goal.

That time has come for him and he will get what he has been talking about since he came to prominence a few years ago.

Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KO) will defend the WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight belts in this fight. He has never been stopped in his career.

The next update will appear on Monday, August 19.

Ranked fights during this period:

• Super middleweight: (3) Christian Mbilli vs. (4) Sergiy Derevyanchenko, August. 17
• Super middleweight: (10) Oselys Iglesias vs. TBA, August. 17
• Super welterweight: (7) Serhii Bohachuk vs (8) Vergil Ortiz Jr, August. 10
• featherweight: (1) Luis Alberto Lopez vs. (8) Angelo Leo, August. 10
• Flyweight: (4) Angel Ayala vs. (8) Dave Apolinario, August. 9

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Comments: Right now, there are simply not 10 heavyweights who are both good AND evidence. Jared Anderson was eliminated after being crushed by Martin Bakole, and the returning Andy Ruiz Jr failed to impress in a draw with Jarrell Miller, so we have an open spot.

In fact, Anderson may deserve it as much as anyone. He doesn’t have any spectacular victories, but his victories are as good as the victories of anyone else in the conversation, at least in terms of things that have happened in the last, say, three to five years, so what is currently crucial. But this seems stupid.

So I’m betting on Jałołow, who seems ready to win his second Olympic gold medal in a row. I hope to inspire him with this decision and end the six-year masturbation session that has been his professional career thus far, with his obvious and clear focus much more on representing his country against the losers in amateur tournaments. This is quite a preliminary conclusion, if someone does something worthwhile, they will be dropped.

If you think this is just a bad way to decide who gets a fraudulent position in the rankings, hey, I wish there was some clearly better choice too, but there isn’t. What do you want here? Michael Hunter, who hasn’t looked good in a fight since 2018 or 2019? If that floats your boat then go with the Lord, but I do.

Upcoming Fights: (3) Anthony Joshua vs. (6) Daniel Dubois, September 21 … (1) Oleksandr Usyk vs. (2) Tyson Fury, December. 21

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Comments: Sometimes I feel like everyone understands that “style makes the fight” until they see that style makes a fighter look a little worse than he expected on one night. David Morrell made his debut at 175 pounds, and no, he didn’t knock anyone down with his win over Radivoje Kalajdzic, but he deserved the win. It looks like Kalajdzic remains a tough challenge for anyone not on Artur Beterbiev’s level, and don’t discount the heat these guys felt fighting outdoors on an August afternoon in Los Angeles – the “Sizzling Rod” fog in that same heat, yes , so it’s not meant to be an “excuse”, I just think I’ll at least consider it for Morrell’s next, likely air-conditioned fight.

Kalajdzic looked good enough to stay in his place, and my fresh take on the division comes from Lyndon Arthur, who was unsettled after a split decision victory over Liam Cameron on June 21. Morrell has a much bigger advantage than the No. 1 player in the standings. 7th – I would pick him to beat the trio of Brits in front of him, and in terms of style, I think Yarde would be the biggest threat of this group – but he needs to show it next time and in the future.

Upcoming Fights: (4) Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson, September 21

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Christian Mbilli vs. (4) Sergiy Derevyanchenko, August. 17 … (10) Oselys Iglesias vs. TBA, August. 17 … (5) Diego Pacheco vs. Maciej Sulecki, August. 31 … (1) Canelo Alvarez vs. (9) Edgar Berlanga, September. 14 … (2) Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan, September. 20

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Erislandy Lara vs. Danny Garcia, September. 14 … (4) Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Tyler Denny, September. 21 … (7) Liam Smith v. Josh Kelly, September. 21

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Comments: Bud Crawford didn’t do it dominate Israil Madrimov, but he beat a really good fighter without any real questions, unless you try to rely on made-up “rules” that don’t get past sniffing basic logic at any level.

Madrimov isn’t really in the dock, he fought a really great fighter and was very competitive. But Bud is not a super powerful number 1. 1 yet either; gets this spot because there was no clear no. place earlier, and his career achievements and quality victory in his debut at the age of 154 earned him the respect that allowed him to be called number 1 in the ranking list. 1 when you look at this box.

The winner of Saturday’s match Bohachuk vs. Ortiz can also make a gigantic jump. It’s a great matchup and a chance for these guys to really prove something. If the winner looks really good, they will finish at least in the top five, and maybe even in the top three.

Upcoming Fights: (7) Serhii Bohachuk vs (8) Vergil Ortiz Jr, August. 10

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Comments: Weird division right now, man. Not tedious, not talentless, just weird.

Jose Valenzuela steps in after winning over Pitbull Cruz. It’s a 135-pound beatdown of a 140-pound belt, and it was won by Rolly Romero, who never really deserved it. Good fight, competitive, I wouldn’t mind an immediate rematch unless Valenzuela puts up something better, which is doubtful – although Tank Davis needs an opponent and could rather fight Valenzuela, who would probably be willing to go back to 135 rather than want a rematch with Cruz, the guy they kept in their back pocket in case of an emergency.

I thought this fight was close, so I won’t cut Cruz too much so Valenzuela can prove he’s in good shape. If more people were regularly involved in good fights, we wouldn’t have situations like this so often, but I have real respect for fighters who at least fight decent opponents.

Upcoming Fights: (4) Jack Catterall v. Regis Prograis, October

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Comments: Andy Cruz didn’t blow away Antonio Moran, at least not until he did. Moran is a solid veteran gatekeeper, and Cruz handled the job, but not in a TKO-2 fashion. I think everyone here has some issues with him now, let alone in two years when he’s even more acclimated to the professional game. He’s a guy who’s just going to get better over time and deal with the type of opponents he likes. should beat, yes, but these are guys who will continue to prepare him for bigger professional fights.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (6) Anthony Cacace vs. Josh Warrington, September. 21 … (1) Emanuel Navarrete vs. (2) Oscar Valdez, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Luis Alberto Lopez vs. (8) Angelo Leo, August. 10 … (9) Bruce Carrington vs. Sulaiman Segawa, September. 27

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Comments: Stephen Fulton is out of the fight as he officially moves up to featherweight to face Carlos Castro in September, which is a really good fight. Enter Elijah Pierce. This guy has done a really good job of consistently fighting and trying to earn his spot in the competition. Yes, he had some early failures. Likewise O’Shaquie Foster and Jose Valenzuela. Pierce dropped to 122 from 126/130. He’s not flawless, he’s not unbeatable, but he fights and wins against the best opponents he can find in his promotional situation.

Upcoming Fights: (10) Elijah Pierce vs. Jose Sanmartin, August. 30… (1) Naoya Inoue vs. TJ Doheny, September 3

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Yoshiki Takei vs. (10) Daigo Higa, September 3

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (4) Angel Ayala vs. (8) Dave Apolinario, August. 9

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Comments: Kenshiro Teraji will move up to flyweight, but we’ll let this fight happen because there’s always a chance he could come back down if he loses. I have a feeling he wouldn’t do it, much like Kosei Tanaka moving up to 115 pounds, losing and staying to make a name for himself, but we’ll see.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Comments: Another shock in the Wild West, i.e. in the 105-pound category, where Ginjiro Shigeoka is stopped by Pedro Taduran.

Upcoming Fights: (4) Yudai Shigeoka vs. Samuel Salva, August. 24

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Comments: Claressa Shields won a gimmick fight against someone who had absolutely no hope and had no interest in being in the ring with her. Once again, we wonder who else she has left in the box. The answer is really no one, and this marketing stunt may have been the last card to be played. It’s not her fault, she’s just better than everyone else at a reasonable weight and she beat them all.

Upcoming Fights: (6) Alycia Baumgardner vs. Delfine Person, September. 27 … (2) Katie Taylor vs. (5) Amanda Serrano, November. 15

Danny Garcia is scheduled to return to the ring in September. 14. Canelo Alvarez fights with Edgar Berlanga, in which he will face Erislandy Lara for the WBA title. During yesterday’s kickoff press conference that officially announced the fight, Garcia talked about his long layoff to get back down to 160 pounds.

“I didn’t have a two-year break because I wanted to,” Garcia said. “Boxing changed and I just sat back and waited for my chance. It is known that the fight was supposed to take place a year ago in August, but it did not take place. This is the fight I planned and wanted. Lara has something I want, which is a title, and I am a name – he wants my name, I want his title, and that makes sense. I’m trying to make history.

“Boxing is, above all, mentality. You can do whatever comes to your mind. If you feel like you can’t do it, it’s probably because you can’t do it. But mentally I know I can do anything I put my mind to and I never back down from any challenge. It’s only the weight, what counts in boxing is skill and will. At the end of the day, when you’re tired and you’re getting to the championship rounds, it’s all about who has the most will to fight and can box, but everyone knows Danny Garcia can fight.”

Watch the video of the full opening press conference in the link at the top.