Connect with us

Boxing

Eddie Hearn defends Canelo’s choice of Berlanga, dismisses claims of simple matchup

Published

on

Image: Canelo's Choice of Berlanga Sparks Backlash and Potential PPV Losses

Eddie Hearn insists Canelo Alvarez is not the favourite as he picks Edgar Berlanga to defend his title on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Matchroom promoter Hearn points out that Berlanga is similar to Canelo’s previous opponent, Jaime Munguia, and he considered it a “fairly close fight” back in May. He says Berlanga is Canelo’s WBA mandatory and is the best available option.

Berlanga: Mandatory challenger, not a cushioned touch

Berlanga was David Morrell’s mandatory for his WBA “regular” super middleweight title, but he didn’t want to fight him for obvious reasons. Morrell would probably beat Berlanga fairly easily. Canelo inherited Berlanga as the WBA mandatory after Morrell moved up to 175, but he didn’t have to fight him if he didn’t want to.

If Canelo didn’t want to fight Berlanga, he could have ignored him, as he did with David Benavidez, the WBC mandatory title challenger, and William Scull, the IBF mandatory title challenger.

Hearn has promoted Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), so it wouldn’t make sense for him to admit that Canelo deliberately picked an simple opponent for the Sept. 14 fight. You wouldn’t expect Hearn to say outright that Canelo picked a terrible fighter with a terrible record who doesn’t deserve a title shot.

Hearn’s View: Canelo Never Shuns a Challenge

“I don’t think so. Right before the Golovkin fight he fought Dmitry Bivol and he got his ass kicked,” said Eddie Hearn Boxing Newsreacting to the news that some fans believe Canelo Alvarez will be competing against beatable opponents.

When Canelo chose Bivol to fight in 2022, Bivol had recently fought Craig Richards and looked awful in that fight. Bivol won, but it was close and he looked timid. It is believed that Canelo chose Bivol because of how he looked against Richards. If not for that, Canelo would have stayed away from him and avoided defeat.

“He fought before [40-year-old] Gennady Golovkin in a trilogy,” Hearn said of Canelo. Even Jermell Charlo, everything is very good after the fact, but when the fight is set and the undisputed 154-pounder moves up to 168, suddenly he [Canelo] wins easily and it’s a mismatch.”

Fans on social media were very critical of Canelo for choosing to fight Jermel Charlo last year instead of defending against David Benavidez. They did not praise the choice, and few thought Jermell could win. Fans saw it as selective, and that is exactly what it was.

This was another example of Canelo fighting an opponent two divisions below him, as he did so against Amir Khan in 2016. Next year, Canelo will likely face another fighter who will come in two divisions when he fights Terence Crawford. Many believe a fight between Canelo and Crawford is in the works next year if they win their next fights.

“Jaime Munguia was in great shape” [when he fought Canelo]”, said Hearn. “He stopped John Ryder. I don’t see too many differences between Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga. It’s a pretty even fight, but Edgar Berlanga is [WBA] obligatory [for Canelo].”

Munguia has been a fighter who has faced average opponents throughout his 11-year career. The best two opponents Munguia had faced before the Canelo fight last May were 38-year-old Sergiy Derevyanchenko and 35-year-old John Ryder. They were B-level fighters at best when Munguia fought them. If he had faced either of them in 2016, he would have lost.

Some fans believe that Munguia’s entire career was based on fighting fringe opponents just to get a fight with Canelo. Munguia has been linked to Alvarez’s name from the very beginning as a potential future opponent.

Restricted options for Canelo

“William Scull is [IBF] mandatory. It’s a much better fight than William Scull,” Hearn said about Berlanga being a better option than Scull. “It’s Mexico vs. Puerto Rico [for the Berlanga fight].”

Obviously, Berlanga is a better choice than Scull for Canelo because he’s from Novel York, has a following in the city, and has been shown on ESPN and DAZN to American audiences. Scull is a fighter who the IBF rates highly based on wins over little-known opponents, and he lives in Germany. Berlanga is still not a good choice for Canelo, but he’s better than Scull.

“Who else could Canelo Alvarez fight now, other than David Benavidez?” Hearn said. “For some reason, he moved up to airy heavyweight, so it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”

Hearn forgets about David Morrell. Canelo could have fought him but didn’t want to. Canelo chose Berlanga instead and it’s simple to see why.

“So I think Edgar Berlanga is a good choice. I think he’ll give him a good fight and it’ll be a good event. But I don’t see many other options for Canelo Alvarez, to be forthright. One thing I can say about Canelo Alvarez is that he’ll never run away from a challenge. There’s no one he’s afraid of,” Hearn said.

Berlanga is a terrible choice for Canelo, and his popularity has taken a hit because he chose to fight him. Hearn is not going to criticize Canelo for choosing Berlanga because he promotes the Novel Yorker and the fight will bring in money. There will be nothing more for Berlanga because Canelo will wipe him off the face of the earth.

After Berlanga’s loss, Hearn can let him go because he’s done his job. Berlanga won’t be fighting substantial fights anymore and he won’t be worth keeping on Matchroom’s payroll. After losing to Canelo, Berlanga can only hope for a fight with Caleb Plant, which he’ll probably lose.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Boxing

Tyson’s conqueror, Danny Williams, was “never considered” for Morrison

Published

on

Kenzie Morrison Danny Williams

World Boxing News has learned that Danny Williams was never considered for a fight against Tommy Morrison’s son Kenzie on November 9.

WBN has learned from a source that Williams was scheduled to face Morrison next month when he returns to action at Firelake Arena in Shawnee. However, promoter Tony Holden confirmed what WBN initially reported, namely that Williams had been offered for the fight.

BoxRec also briefly placed Williams within Morrison’s record on November 9, before removing the former British champion. Williams famously knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004, but has since lived off his victory despite losing his British license more than a decade ago.

Holden, who represents Morrison and is looking for an opponent for the competition in three weeks, explained the situation exclusively to WBN.

“I never confirmed William’s story and I never considered him,” Holden said. “I said no when a local promoter suggested it.”

Williams, 51, last fought in August 202, losing for the 33rd time in his career. With 88 professional fights under his belt, Williams seems unable to turn down a payday despite his advanced age.

Morrison, a power puncher who has stopped 19 of his 21 wins, will look for his next conquest elsewhere. The fight with Mike Balogun remains on the table for 2025 after it was postponed from its original October date.

Balogun, who knocked out Kenzi’s brother Trey in the first round, claimed Morrison was pulled from the fight to spare him the loss.

Holden denies this view.

“Even though this post isn’t up to my standards, I’m going to write it anyway. Mike Balogun falsely claimed that I pulled Kenzie Morrison out of the fight because I was afraid he would lose. Please allow me to correct you, Mr. Balogun,” he stated.

“The decision was not made by Kenzie. Let’s raise the stakes and make it fascinating. If you emerge victorious this month, Kenzie will fight in November.

“We may decide this early next year. If your confidence remains unshaken, we can place a significant bet. Watch Kenzie take revenge on her brother and end your career.

Balogun, a former San Francisco 49ers linebacker, responded to Holden by increasing his salary for a potential collision next year.

“No matter how fair and honorable your decision was, just remember that ‘yesterday’s price is not today’s price,’” said the 2010 undrafted pick.

Continue Reading

Boxing

Andrew Moloney is confident that if given the chance, he would have beaten Phumelele Cafu and Kosei Tanaka

Published

on

Andrew Moloney (left) attacks Pedro Guevara – photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Few people were more disappointed than Andrew Moloney when Kosei Tanaka lost his WBO super flyweight belt to Phumelele Cafu at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday night.

The 33-year-old Australian veteran was hoping to get a shot at beating Tanaka in the lucrative Japanese market.

Those dreams were dashed when South Africa’s Cafu delivered the performance of his life, knocking out Tanaka in the fifth round and finishing the fight strongly, beating the four-weight world champion by split decision.

“The plan was to target the WBO and really chase the Tanaka fight, but it all fell apart on Monday night,” Moloney (26-4-1NC, 16 KO) told The Ring. “I think the WBO is probably still the direction we go, but I’m not sure if they have a rematch clause or if Tanaka will take it. But after watching the fight yesterday, I would be really confident that I could fight one of these guys and win. We would like to follow this path.

“I would love to fight Tanaka in Japan as a four-division world champion. He’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to and wanted to fight for a long time.

“Last night was a little hard to watch. The way he performed, I’m more confident than ever that I have what it takes to beat Tanaka.

I assume there will be a rematch and I hope that Tanaka will regain the belt and I will be able to return to the ring and climb the rankings, and maybe this fight will still happen.

Tanaka entered Moloney’s orbit four years ago when he debuted at 115 pounds. Earlier this year, it looked like they were also on a collision course, with Moloney being number one in the WBO rankings. However, when an offer was made for the vacant IBF lightweight title fight between Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. in May in Perth, Western Australia, Moloney felt he couldn’t turn her down.

This decision ended in disaster. Moloney faced Carlos Cuadras, who withdrew from the fight with a ruptured Achilles tendon and was replaced by Pedro Guevara. Moloney entered the fight with a torn bicep and was largely reduced to boxing with one hand, which circumscribed his punching power.

Still, Moloney felt he did more than enough to win, and was shocked when Guevara was declared the winner by split decision. He was so disappointed that he announced immediately after the fight that he was leaving the ring, but a few days later he withdrew these comments.

It was a breakthrough moment in his career.

“Looking back, it’s a wonderful thing, but watching the Tanaka-Cafu fight made me think that maybe I would do a lot of things if I could turn back time a little bit,” Moloney explained.

“Before my last fight, I was number one in the WBO rankings and I rejected the option of waiting to fight Tanaka. But the opportunity arose to fight Guevara in Australia for the interim WBC title on a major card, and to be candid, I kind of regretted that the Tanaka fight was hanging in the balance, but ultimately we decided to stay busy and take the opportunity to fight in Australia.

“Also, the injury before the fight was another thing I thought about: will I undergo surgery, keep the top spot and wait for Tanaka, but I made the decision to go ahead with the fight with Guevara. Looking back now, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. And looking at the way Tanaka fought last night, I thought maybe I should have waited. I’m sure I could beat Tanaka and take the belt away from him.

“So I take some consolation, but unfortunately you can’t turn back time.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Moloney, but he’s still hitting the gym and his team is working to get him another fight. The window of opportunity to box again this year is closing quickly, but he still hopes to return to the ring in December, most likely in his native Australia.

“I really hope so,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I have been training strenuous at the gym for some time, quite a few months. I hope to return before the end of the year.

“At this stage it will probably be December. I’m trying to block something, but so far no luck. I’m still training away as if the fight was to take place in December, the team is currently working on it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to finish it.

“I just hope we can get out before the end of the year, get back into the winner’s circle and start climbing the rankings again.”

Moloney, who fought at bantamweight for the first three years of his professional career before dropping down to super flyweight, surprisingly, said he would even consider moving up to another weight class given the right opportunity.

“It’s a tough time in the super flyweight division,” said Moloney, the eighth challenger to The Ring’s 115-pound title. “There’s a lot going on and it’s always strenuous to plan which route to take because everything changes so quickly. I’d pick Bam Rodriguez to beat Guevara, then there’s talk of a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez on Up-to-date Year’s Eve. And then there’s talk of Bama, if they win, fighting the winner of that game in unification. The WBO seems to me the fastest way to win the title, so that’s the path we will follow.

“We have also rejected for some time the idea of ​​moving up to flyweight and getting crack there. There’s also some engaging scene going on there right now, but it’s still uncertain. I’d probably feel a little better at super flyweight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Cafu and Tanaka, but like I said, I’d feel comfortable and confident against either of them, so hopefully he can make it it will happen sooner rather than later.”

Continue Reading

Boxing

Doubts that fuel 19-year-old Benjamin Johnson

Published

on

Despite an impressive amateur resume, welterweight Benjamin Johnson of Springdale, Maryland, enters the professional ring with a shoulder injury.

Johnson will face Kevin Pantoja in a four-round fight at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland, promoted by his trainer Lamont Roach Snr’s NoXcuses Promotions. The fight will be broadcast on Saturday on ProBox TV.

Johnson, 1-0 (1 KO), spent just 2:23 in the ring in his professional debut, displaying the quick, aggressive hands that won him multiple national titles. However, 19-year-old Johnson feels an advantage, believing he is being overlooked by his NoXcuses Boxing Gym teammates.

Pantoja, 1-1, 27, has never stopped being a professional – Johnson aims to change that.

“People underestimate me,” Johnson said. “It’s been like that since I was an amateur.”

He added that this underestimation increases his motivation in the gym. Johnson is determined to prove his worth not only to himself, but also to those who doubt him or, worse, don’t recognize him. “I never felt like I was recognized as that guy, so I feel like I’m underappreciated,” Johnson said of his amateur and now professional career.

Johnson sees the fight as a key step in his career, compared to feared forward David Benavidez by some teammates and touted by others as one of the most ready-to-fight prospects in the country.

“I train as much as I can,” Johnson said. “It’s about making a statement. The way you win shows people what you’re capable of, and I’m ready to show my best.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending