Podcast: Berlanga interview as he makes case for Canelo fight
Plus: Lomachenko-Kambosos preview; Inoue-Nery recap; Charlo stripped and more news of the week; two fight anniversaries
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There is just one major show on Saturday, the Top Rank/ESPN card headlined by Vasiliy Lomachenko against George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF lightweight title, which we previewed. There is also my interview with super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga, who has a good shot to get the fight he wants most next, a September showdown with undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez. We also recapped undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue’s knockout win over Luis Nery, went over key news of the week, and looked back on the anniversaries of two major cards.
Here is what’s on the show (in order):
Preview of Lomachenko-Kambosos, which takes place in Perth, Australia, Kambosos’ home country.
We also previewed the vacant WBC interim junior bantamweight title fight on the undercard between Australia’s Andrew Moloney and Mexican former titleholder Pedro Guevara.
My interview with Berlanga, who was ringside at last Saturday’s Canelo-Jaime Munguia fight and made his case for getting the big-time title shot against the champ in September, when Canelo plans to fight next.
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Recap of Inoue’s crushing sixth-round KO of Nery after surviving a first-round knockdown retain all the belts at 122 pounds along with some discussion of the world title fights on the undercard.
The WBC’s announcement that it has finally stripped Jermall Charlo of the middleweight title and elevated interim titlist Carlos Adames to full titleholder.
An update on the Ryan Garcia’s failed drug tests soap opera and what’s next in the saga that I have been dragged into.
Word from Turki Alalshikh that despite Artur Beterbiev’s injury and withdrawal from the undisputed light heavyweight title fight with Dmitry Bivol that was set for June 1, Bivol will remain in the card and face unbeaten replacement Malik Zinad with the plan to reschedule Beterbiev-Bivol.
Top Rank’s announcement of its July 6 card that includes Shakur Stevenson defending the WBC lightweight title, O’Shaquie Foster defending the WBC junior lightweight title, and lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis in action.
Memories on the 28th anniversary of a memorable heavyweight tripleheader on HBO at Madison Square Garden, where Evander Holfield looked so bad in a win over Bobby Czyz that it finally convinced Don King to make the Mike Tyson fight (and we all know what happened there); Lennox Lewis outslugged Ray Mercer; Tim Witherspoon knocked out Jorge Luis Gonzalez.
Ringside memories on the third anniversary of when a peak Canelo Alvarez broke Billy Joe Saunders’ face in an eighth-round knockout to unify three super middleweight titles on his way to undisputed as they set the all-time U.S. indoor boxing record attendance of 73,126 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as I returned to the road to cover a fight after 14 months at home due to the pandemic.
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We bring you the preview each Friday and the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.
Berlanga photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
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I prefer Berlanga set his sights on Munguía. I know folks trash Berlanga because it's the thing to do. But I did see some improvement in his previous fight. And Canelo ain't leaving 168 soon for anyone, at this stage in his career. What's the rush? Right now, Berlanga is just a fun "Stay Busy" fight for Canelo:.