Canelo Alvarez needs an opponent on May 4; can Edgar Berlanga be that guy?

Edgar Berlanga not only won his first 16 bouts by knockout, he finished all of them in the first round. And though the New York-based super middleweight contender hadn't beaten anyone with a pulse in those 16 fights, the first round knockouts alone got people talking about him as if he were a 168-pound version of a young Mike Tyson.

Berlanga was talked about as a potential opponent for Canelo Alvarez, now the undisputed super middleweight champion, as early as 2020, when he was only 22 and not even close to ready to fight ranked opponents.

Now, he's 26, rounding into his prime with a 21-0 record and will face Padraig McCrory Saturday in Orlando, Fla., in the main event of a card streamed on DAZN. And if he looks good, don't be shocked if Berlanga is in the news in the following week or so, as Alvarez's opponent on May 4.

Promoter Eddie Hearn said he'd throw Berlanga's hat in the ring. And though Alvarez is in the midst of a three-fight deal with the Premier Boxing Champions, he's close with Hearn. Samson Lewkowicz, the promoter of interim WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez, said on social media Thursday after Benavidez signed to fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June for an interim light heavyweight belt that he'd offered Alvarez $55 million to fight Benavidez.

Alvarez declined and Benavidez was out of the race.

There are two fights that would do massive gates and massive pay-per-view numbers for Alvarez: One against undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford, and another against Benavidez. Those fights alone among the potential bouts Alvarez could take have the potential to hit 750,000 sales, or even possibly 1 million.

Nothing else would come close, even noting that Alvarez is one of the biggest draws in boxing. 

Certainly a Berlanga fight would not come remotely close to 750,000 pay-per-view sales, let alone a million, no matter how good Berlanga looks against McCrory. That's just a fact.

Berlanga has to know he's at least in the mix for May 4, but says he is blocking that from his thoughts.

“At this time, Saturday is my focus, Padraig McCrory," Berlanga said. "I don’t give a f*ck about Canelo [or Jaime]  Munguia. It’s this man across from me that’s trying to take my '0,', so I have to put my focus on him and handle my business. Eventually, we can focus on those guys."

That clearly is the right way to think, but it doesn't stop the fact that while Berlanga (21-0, 16 KOs) is preparing for the best version of McCrory (18-0, 9 KOs), talks on going on behind the scenes to put together Alvarez's next fight.

Alvarez is one of the richest boxers of all-time. He's at a stage of his career where he can pick and choose his spots. He's faced virtually everyone of note in and around the weight classes he's competed in, and won almost all of them.

He's 33 and will be two months shy of his 34th when he fights on the Cinco de Mayo weekend. And while he's still very good, it's no secret to say that he's slipped a bit from his peak.

Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) is 27 and has six inches in height and four inches in reach on Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs). Benavidez is entering his prime while Alvarez, at best, is on the back side of it. He's a bad stylistic matchup for Alvarez, as well.

So, if Alvarez was presented with a $55 million offer to fight Benavidez and, say, a $25 million offer to face Berlanga, which offer would he take? Well, it makes sense on the one hand to take the bigger money and the bigger-selling fight.

But given how wealthy Alvarez is, might he take the lesser offer and fight Berlanga, the burgeoning Puerto Rican star? It says here that he very well just might.

Alvarez is, justifiably so, a fighter of immense pride. It's what prompted him recently to say that neither Sugar Ray Robinson, who is only far and away the greatest boxer who ever livez, nor Carlos Monzon, a legendary middleweight champion, would have beaten him.

And so maybe he doesn't want to fight Benavidez because he doesn't want to lose to another star of Mexican descent and help jumpstart Benavidez's rise to stardom.

He pointed out that it was a no-win situation for him to face Crawford. If he wins, he said, he'd get no credit for beating a guy who has been a welterweight. If he loses, well, all hell would break loose and his haters would deem him a fraud.

Alvarez has won titles in four weight classes; he's established him as one of the greatest fighters in the long and glorious history of Mexican boxing. He's been pound-for-pound No. 1. He's faced everyone there is to face.

No one really knows what he's thinking because Alvarez plays it closer to the vest than just about anyone in the business.

If he chooses to fight Berlanga, though, he'll make a loud statement without saying a word.

Berlanga finds himself in almost the perfect spot to get a free lottery ticket. He's ranked fifth by the WBO, sixth by the IBF, eighth by the WBA and 10th by the WBC. That qualifies him to fight for the title.

Funny, isn't it, how boxing works?