Faced with a multi-division champion and an active legend like Canelo Alvarez, Edgar Berlanga needs some serious motivation to step into the ring on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. However, what ‘Cinnamon’ just said about their bout might be the most demoralizing statement for ‘The Chosen One.’ While appearing in the 2nd episode of Premier Boxing Champions’ Gloves Off segment, the former undisputed super middleweight champion gave Berlanga a pretty brutal reality check. Spoiler alert, Canelo claims he has already won the fight.

The host turned to the Mexican superstar, asking for his thoughts on Berlanga’s chances of victory against him. Leaning back on a plush grey sofa, feet casually crossed, the king of the super middleweight division exuded confidence. The Mexican boxing legend simply responded, “No, no chance,” his aura radiating certainty. Citing his extensive experience in the sport, his ring IQ, and his sheer ability, which people so often admire, the 34-year-old said, “I’ve already won September 14th.” It’s worth noting that even the odds favor Canelo Alvarez. According to DraftKings, the odds for Canelo-Berlanga are Canelo -1800 and Berlanga +1000, with 81% of bets favoring Alvarez.

The chances of Alvarez getting caught by surprise like he was during the Dmitry Bivol fight are extremely low. And it seems Canelo is quite aware of that, as he continued, “I haven’t watched his fights closely. One of these days I will take a look to see what strategy we’ll use.” Regardless, Canelo praised Berlanga for being a “strong” fighter, but Canelo feels Berlanga’s challenge “is nothing new to me.” Interestingly, the Canelo fight will be Edgar Berlanga’s biggest fight to date, having mostly fought lower-skill level opponents.

He first gained prominence after defeating his first 16 opponents by way of knockout. But as far as his quality of opponents is considered, nobody in Berlanga’s resume is even close to Canelo. Meanwhile, even the Puerto Rican is using his verbal mastery over trash talk to demand respect from his champion senior.

Edgar Berlanga declares ‘war’ against Canelo Alvarez

Even though Edgar Berlanga has received nothing short of a gift as Canelo chose to fight him and give him millions of dollars in purse, Berlanga’s tone towards Canelo remained the same as it was during their press conference in Southern California last month. However, things seem to have turned even spicier, as fight night gets closer.

In an interview with PPV[dot]com, Berlanga said, “It’s war time. It’s real now. You want to take my head off and I want to do the same to you.” He then went on a rant, demanding respect from Canelo. “How can I respect a guy I want to kill? I need to respect a guy? Get out of here, man. You don’t do that,” Berlanga said. With either fighter primed and ready for action, the back and forth is adding to the existing intrigue for the fight.

However, the question now is, who will win; the seasoned veteran or determined underdog? Share your prediction in the comments below.