Edgar Berlanga has predicted a bold sixth round knockout of Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Canelo defends his unified super middleweight titles against Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena, live on Amazon Prime and DAZN pay-per-view.
Berlanga, who is undefeated in 22 professional contests, is a sizeable underdog ahead of his maiden world title shot, whilst Alvarez will take part in his 26th world title bout.
Despite being as high as 10/1 to pull off a sensational upset, ‘The Chosen One’ is convinced he will become just the third man behind Floyd Mayweather Jr and Dmitry Bivol to defeat the Mexican and the first fighter to stop him.
“As far as team Canelo, we always have respect for him, for his accolades and what he did in the sport of boxing,” the 27-year-old said at the Grand Arrivals on Tuesday.
“But it’s a fight September 14. We’ve got a big fight this weekend.
“He’s going in there to hurt me and I’ve got to go in there and hurt him.
“We’re going to knock him out in the sixth round.
“He told me eight rounds, I’ve got him six.”
Alvarez is on a run of four straight victories since defeat to Bivol, dropping Jaime Munguia on route to a unanimous decision victory in May.
The Guadalajara native lost his undisputed status shortly afterwards, with the IBF stripping him of their crown for failing to defend against mandatory challenger William Scull, who will vie for the vacant title against Vladimir Shishkin on October 19.
Alvarez, entering his 66th fight on Saturday, insists he has seen every style possible and believes he will remove Berlanga from battle within eight rounds.
“We’ll see,” the 34-year-old said at the Grand Arrivals.
“It’s easy to say, but Saturday he’s going to see something different.
“Yeah [I’ll knock him out in eight rounds] or less.
“He’s a good fighter. He’s strong, young, but he’s nothing new to me.
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“I’ve fought everybody. Every style.
“Bigger than me, younger than me, older than me, so I know everything about boxing.
“I have a lot of experience and he’s going to feel it Saturday night.”
