Mike Tyson has spoken out against Canelo Alvarez, labelling him ‘afraid’ ahead of his fight with Edgar Berlanga this weekend.

Canelo returns to the boxing ring for the second time this year on Saturday, defending his Super Middleweight belts in the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Fighting on Mexican independence day, the champion will face Puerto Rico’s undefeated Edgar Berlanga, who will hope to pursuit a huge upset and claim the belts.

But former heavyweight champion Tyson believes that Canelo should be fighting someone else, and his labelled him ‘afraid’ for turning down the fight.

In February, Canelo reportedly turned down an opportunity to face David Benavidez, an unbeaten interim champion considered to be one of the best in the sport.

Reacting to the news, Tyson told Marca: “I can’t believe what I just heard, Canelo rejected 60 million dollars to fight Benavidez, who is a tremendous fighter, young, strong, with hunger and Mexican pride.

“What’s wrong with Canelo? Is he afraid of losing? Doesn’t he want to give the fans the fight they want to see?

“Don’t you want to give the fans the fight they want to see? Do you not respect the legacy of the great Mexican champions who faced the best regardless of the money?”

Tyson continued, further criticising the Canelo, saying: “This is a shame for boxing and for Mexico. If I were him, I would accept the fight with Benavidez and show the world that he is the best.

“But it seems he doesn’t have the courage to do it; It is a shame because he has a lot of talent but he lacks heart”

Instead, the 34-year-old faces Berlanga, who boasts an impressive record of 22 wins and zero losses, with 17 of his victories coming via knockout.

Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga takes place in Las Vegas on September 14. (Image: Getty)

But, while the 27-year-old is no easy task, he is far from the level of Benavidez, leading to the criticism from Tyson.

And Tyson is not the only one to criticise Canelo recently for seeming avoiding the big fights, with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh, also claiming that the champion is dodging difficult fights with Benavidez and Terrence Crawford.

Posting on X, Alalshikh wrote: “As for the way I do business, I know why he [Canelo] doesn’t like it, because I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won’t like that.

“I’m not the one who’s afraid of fighting Benavidez or Crawford.”