Carmelo Anthony salutes as Bronx icon heaps high praise on Edgar Berlanga after loss to Canelo Alvarez
NBA icon Carmelo Anthony left his reaction under the post of Bronx icon Fat Joe where he is praising Edgar Berlanga for his incredible boxing fight against Canelo Alvarez.
Melo went to the comments section and left his response. The former Knicks star dropped three salute emojis, showing his respect for Berlanga's efforts and Joe's praise.
Fat Joe also posted a detailed caption with his post, paying respect to Berlanga in front of his 5.8 million followers.
"So proud to call you my lil brother, if it was up to dem……. Last night i saw a GREAT PUERTO RICAN FIGHTER…... @edgarberlanga you won the RESPECT of the people now the futures yours paradise," Joe wrote.
Berlanga had lost for the first time in his career, bringing his record to 22-1-0 after the unanimous decision declared his opponent Canelo Alvarez as the winner. The match was a thriller, keeping the audience at the edge of their seats.
At one point, it looked like Berlanga would have lost the matchup by a TKO. Alavrez had landed a clean hit on him, dropping the Puerto Rican boxer in the third round of the match. However, Berlanga got back on his feet and kept up fighting, earning the respect of Carmelo Anthony along with many others.
Dwyane Wade praises Carmelo Anthony as the best player he saw before the NBA
Carmelo Anthony had a great career in the NBA, and although he did not win a ring, he cemented his legacy as one of the best, if not the best, one-on-one player in the league. Melo was an unstoppable force in isolation plays and excelled in offensive scenarios of the game.
in last week's episode of 'The Why' podcast with Dwyane Wade, Melo appeared on the show as a guest. The Miami Heat icon revealed his thoughts on the former Knicks star when he saw him play for the first time.
"I am sitting there and I am watching this player that I have heard about in high school that's supposed to be nice," Wade said. " You had like 30. You were getting to the money, it looked so easy. I was sitting there like, 'Damn, I ain't never seen this up close and personal'. You were doing it with a smile, you were doing it with a flair and you were just hooping. I was like, 'This is the best basketball player I watched with my own eyes'."
Wade went on to explain that he had not seen Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan play up close. So, for him, Melo was the best player at the time.
He believed that Anthony was going to be picked as the number one draft pick at the 2003 Draft. However, that spot went to LeBron James and Melo was chosen as the third pick by the Denver Nuggets.