Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez outpoints challenger Edgar Berlanga.
Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez retained his unified super middleweight world title with a resounding unanimous decision over Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas.
Alvarez dropped the unbeaten Berlanga in the third round and was relentless throughout the 12 rounds Saturday night. The champion rocked Berlanga with a big right hand in the final seconds of the ninth round and Berlanga's cornerman could be heard asking his fighter, “Are you awake?” as he sat on his stool before the 10th round.
Berlanga, who had received a warning for an intentional headbutt, remained defiant and taunted Alvarez as they came out for the 12th round. But the Puerto Rican-American, who began his professional career with 16 consecutive first-round knockouts, was unable to find the victory he had brazenly predicted.
The experienced Alvarez put pressure on him from the start, and Berlanga looked indecisive in the first two rounds as he was repeatedly backed into the corner. He tried to respond bravely in the third after Alvarez landed a right to the head, but a devastating left hook from Alvarez sent him to the ground. Berlanga slapped his gloves down while sitting on the canvas and quickly got up.
Berlanga had no answer as Alvarez went after him with debilitating body blows round after round. “I did good,” said Alvarez, who was awarded the fight by a score of 118-109 by two judges and by 117-110 from the third. “Now what are they going to say? I fight younger fighters? Before they say I fought older fighters. Now what are they going to say? They always talk.
“I’m the best fighter in the world,” added Alvarez, who improved to 62-2-2 (39 KOs) and retained his World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization belts.
Alvarez bounces back
Alvarez was stripped of his International Boxing Federation belt in July when he opted to take on Berlanga rather than IBF mandatory challenger William Scull. That was immaterial to the partisan crowd of more than 20,000 at T-Mobile Arena, where Alvarez claimed another victory on Mexican Independence Day weekend – a holiday he made his own along with Cinco de Mayo.
“It means a lot,” Alvarez said. “It’s an honor for me to represent my country on this day. I feel proud about it.”
Berlanga, 27, fell to 22-1. As the final bell sounded, the fighters embraced in an extended hug. “I was telling him that he’s my idol,” Berlanga said. “Since I was a kid, I looked up to him.”
It was the fifth straight points win for Alvarez, whose last victory inside the distance was an 11th-round knockout of Caleb Plant in November 2021. But it was the fourth straight fight in which Alvarez scored a knockdown.
The four-division champion, who has been accused of ducking rising star David Benavidez, said he would take some time to reflect on what lies ahead for him. “I'm going to rest with my family now and then I'll decide,” he said.
On the preliminary card, Erislandy Lara retained his WBA middleweight world title with a ninth-round knockout of Danny Garcia. The slow pace of the fight drew boos from the crowd, but Erislandy, a 41-year-old southpaw born in Cuba, landed a left straight that dropped Garcia to his knees at the end of the ninth round.
When the round ended, Garcia’s father and trainer, Angel, called for the fight to be stopped. “I took him to school,” said Lara, who improved his record to 31-3-3 with 19 knockouts. Garcia, fighting for the first time since July 2022, fell to 37-4 with 21 wins going the distance.
