Canelo dwarfed by Berlanga in tense face-off as ‘best weapon’ becomes clear

Edgar Berlanga towered over Canelo Alvarez as the pair came face to face at their final press conference on Wednesday.

The 6ft 1in Puerto Rican puncher has six inches in height on Canelo and looks massive for a super middleweight.

After they have weighed in at the 168lbs limit on Friday, esteemed boxing analyst, Chris Mannix, anticipates Berlanga will be 15lbs heavier than Canelo come fight night.

“You look at that face-off there, you can see the obvious size advantage Edgar Berlanga has in a fight like this,” said Mannix on the DAZN broadcast.

“Several inches and he is going to rehydrate 10lbs, maybe 15lbs heavier than Canelo Alvarez so size is going to be Edgar’s best weapon here.”

Canelo opens up as a heavy favourite with the bookies but if Berlanga can use his size advantage effectively he could cause the Mexican superstar some problems.

Only the WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles will be on the line this Saturday after Canelo was stripped of the IBF belt in July.

The 34-year-old was ordered by the IBF to face mandatory challenger William Scull.

However, he chose to box Berlanga instead as it made more financial sense.

As a result, he was forced to relinquish the IBF strap, while the major sanctioning body ordered a vacant world title fight between Scull and Vladimir Shishkin, which is being targeted for October.

But Canelo isn’t concerned about what belts are on the line, he just wants to put on a show for his adoring crowd.

“I’ve fought everybody already, I was on vacation and Eddie [Hearn] called me and told me he was working on the fight,” he said.

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“And I was like ‘Whatever, I don’t care I fight everybody’.

“I think it is a very good fight for the people, Mexico vs Puerto Rico, there is a lot of history there and I think it is a great match.”

While Canelo insists it’s just another fight, Berlanga is embracing the role of the underdog.

“I’m not supposed to be here. Everybody that’s in front of me is against me.

“You’ve got some believers out there that believe in me but because of my accolades and because of who I fought and who he has fought, he has fought legend, it is bound to happen.

“It’s people’s opinions, people are bound to say I’m going to get knocked out because of my career and who I fought.

“But it was God’s plan for this to happen. Seeing my name is a blessing.”

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