Challenging unified super middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez on September 14, live on DAZN, Edgar Berlanga understands the opportunity ahead.
Not only can the undefeated Brooklyn, New York fighter score an upset over a boxing legend and cement his own legacy but he can walk out of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with three titles in his very first world championship fight.
Boxing on the biggest platform of his career, the 27-year-old Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) vows that he won't let the bright lights of the moment get too big for him.
"The most important thing is just being focused and just being locked in," Berlanga said on the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo Podcast. "Just grab the people, the media, the fans — the 18,000, 19,000 people that's gonna be there — and just block em out. Put on the, you know the horses that have the blinders on? Just wear that s—t and just zone out and just focus on Canelo that night."
Berlanga added that he can't allow himself to give Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) too much respect, either.
"At this point, I don't care who he is or he's Canelo Alvarez — this is the guy I'm facing September 14," Berlanga said bluntly. "There's a guy that's taking food off my table. At the end of the day I'm a fighter, bro. We don't respect the big homies. He's the big homie at 168 but we don't respect big homies where we from.
"At the end of the day, you know it's all about the mental. Besides the physical, it's being mentally prepared for this moment," he continued. "Obviously, I've been asking for this moment and just talking about it and kept talking about his name for years and we got the opportunity now. I'm more than ready mentally. I done foreseen everything that went on. Now what's going on, I've seen it play out years ago.
"I've seen this s—t play out years ago so I just got to embrace the moment and take advantage of it," he added, "and make the best of it and go for the 'W' on September 14."
Live on DAZN: Diego Pacheco vs. Maciej Sulecki on August 31. Click here for details.