Legendary Roy Jones Jr. has encouraged Edgar Berlanga to go out and hurt Saul "Canelo" Alvarez if he wants to stand a chance of upsetting the superstar.

Berlanga, 27, will attempt to dethrone 34-year-old Alvarez by snatching the Mexican’s WBC and WBO super middleweight titles at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. The fight promises to be Berlanga’s biggest in his eight-year pro career.

Jones, who held world titles in four divisions, believes Berlanga needs to earn the respect of Canelo in the early rounds of the fight. Should he achieve this, it could, he said, change the dynamics of the 168-pound unification fight.

“Edgar Berlanga is gonna have to go out there right away and see if he can hurt Canelo, which I've never seen in a fight that I knew of,” Jones told Fighthub TV. “But he can hurt him because Edgar is a bigger guy; he's a puncher. If he can hurt Canelo, he has a chance because now he puts Canelo in a sense of where I don't need to get hit by this guy. I may have to change the way that I operate.”

Canelo has yet to lose a fight at 168 since making his debut in the division four years ago. He has defeated the likes of Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, Gennady Golovkin, Jermell Charlo, and Jaime Munguia among others at super middleweight.

With the depth of experience gathered, Canelo remains the favorite to carry the night on Saturday against Berlanga – who’s making his maiden world championship bow. Jones thinks it will be a tall order for Berlanga if he’s unable to deal with Canelo’s threat as Dmitry Bivol did in their light heavyweight fight two years ago.

“Well, Berlanga has to go out and get that respect right away. If he doesn't, and to the flip side of that, he's gotta be able to absorb what Canelo brings to his chin. Bivol was able to withstand what Canelo brought to his chin. And he was able to give Canelo back better than Canelo brought him. Can this guy do that? Can Berlanga take the onslaught and return it just as good or better?

“That's what's gonna be the question. Because if he can take the onslaught and return it, then we got ourselves a great fight. If he can't take the onslaught, then we have a fight that's gonna be good for three rounds, and this is gonna be over.”

Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) is a hard-hitting fighter but is yet to prove this against an opponent such as Canelo. In his last fight, Berlanga destroyed Irishman Padraig McCory in six rounds. Saturday provides Berlanga with an opportunity to make history as the sole fighter to have gotten the best out of Canelo at 168.

When asked what he would have told Berlanga if in his camp, Jones said “If I was in the corner with him, I wouldn't tell him to look out for nothing. We know Canelo has great hooks to the body. Most Mexicans have great hooks to the body. Well, you'll see the sharp edge where the best left hand is up. So, you know to look out for the left hook, you head into the body.

“But Canelo also throws a pretty good overhand right and a straight right hand. So, you can really tell him to look out for that particularly from Canelo. What you tell him is to go out there and put Canelo on the defense and use your feet and keep Canelo on the defense. Don't let Canelo put you on the defense because if he does, you're gonna be in for a short night.”

Jones said Berlanga can utilize his size and punch power to trouble Canelo but warned that the Puerto Rican must be effective in that regard. Jones also said he would not be surprised if Berlanga causes an upset with his punching power.  

“Well, he's the bigger guy and the bigger puncher, which is why you have to watch that with him on the defense right away. Well, see, that's the question. Sometimes when a guy punches so big, guys don't wanna take a risk of trying to counter because you might get caught between that counter.

“So that's why I say it depends on how effective Berlanga can be with his punching power. If he has precise punching power, then he can now keep his hands at home and won't be as willing to counter. But if they're not precise punches, they're gonna come between. So that'll all be determined on how good Berlanga’s punches are, how crisp, how sharp, how precise.

“To some people it would be a huge upset, but it shouldn't be because when a guy goes 17 to 18 and 0 with all first-round knockouts, that tells you he has exceptional punching power. And if he catches anybody by the right game plan, he can take them out, which is why he has to use that coming into this fight. If you don't use that, what good do you do to build that reputation?

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com.