Edgar Berlanga says he’s “already beat” Hamzah Sheeraz in his mind because he sees him as Canelo Alvarez for their July 12th fight in Queens, New York.

Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) thinks Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) is already looking past him toward a fight against Alvarez, and sees that as giving him an advantage coming into their 12-round headliner on DAZN PPV.

Berlanga’s Canelo Mind Games

“Mentally, I already beat him,” said Edgar Berlanga to the Ring Magazine channel, talking about Hamzah Sheeraz. “‘I’m looking at you like you’re Canelo. Once I get him out of the way, ‘Yo, Turki, let’s sit down. Let’s talk.’ Turki is his pappy. He [Sheeraz] doesn’t want to be in New York. They’re putting pressure on him. ‘You got to take this fight because you’re not going to get the Canelo fight.'”

It doesn’t mean anything that Berlanga is looking at Sheeraz like he’s Canelo. If he fights as poorly against Sheeraz as he did against Canelo, he’ll lose. It doesn’t matter what kind of weird mind tricks he’s using to motivate himself for this fight. If he shows the same ham and egger skills that he did against Sheeraz, he’ll lose.

That would be a good thing for the sport in the long run, because Berlanga is a fighter who Top Rank created to look better than he is. They fed him 16 tomato cans to start his career, and when they stepped him up against C-level opposition, he struggled.

They took him off headliner spots, and he left the company to sign with Eddie Hearn. He fed him two poor opponents, Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory, then lined him up for a title shot that he didn’t deserve against Canelo—pure fake.

Canelo Rematch After Sheeraz?

“Maybe Turki is underestimating me.” I know I’m destined for something great, and Hamzah is just in the way. So, we can’t overlook him. I can’t look what’s behind him. That’s the Canelo rematch. There are a lot of things that are lined up for us,” said Berlanga.

It would be a big disappointment for fans to see Berlanga get a rematch with Canelo so soon. Boxing fans want new blood and don’t see Edgar getting a second fight after beating just two fighters. Sheeraz is a terrible choice as well, especially after the gift draw he was given in his previous fight last February against Carlos Adames.

Fighters that deserve a fight against Canelo

1. Christian Mbilli
2. Osleys Iglesias
3. Lester Martinez
4. Janibek Alimkhanuly
5. Yoenli Hernandez