Undisputed tremendous middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez outpoints challenger Edgar Berlanga.
Mexican celebrity Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has retained his unified tremendous middleweight world title with a punishing unanimous choice over Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas.
Alvarez knocked down the beforehand unbeaten Berlanga within the third and was relentless all through the 12 rounds on Saturday night time. The champion rocked Berlanga with an enormous proper within the waning seconds of the ninth spherical and Berlanga’s cornerman may very well be heard asking his fighter: “Are you awake?”, as he sat on his stool earlier than the tenth.
Berlanga, who was warned for an intentional head butt, remained defiant, taunting Alvarez as they got here out for the twelfth. However the Puerto Rican-American, who launched his professional profession with 16 straight first-round knockouts, couldn’t discover the stoppage he had brashly predicted.
The vastly skilled Alvarez put him underneath strain early, Berlanga wanting tentative within the opening two rounds as he was backed repeatedly into the nook. He tried gamely to reply within the third after Alvarez landed a proper to the top, however a devastating left hook from Alvarez despatched him down. Berlanga banged his gloves collectively as he sat on the canvas and hopped up shortly.
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 factors victory for Alvarez, whose final win inside the gap was an Eleventh-round knockout of Caleb Plant in November 2021. Nevertheless it was the fourth consecutive battle wherein Alvarez scored a knockdown.
The four-division champion, who has been accused of ducking rising star David Benavidez, mentioned he would take a while to ponder what’s subsequent for him. “I’m going to relaxation with my household from time to time I’m going to determine,” he mentioned.
On the undercard, Erislandy Lara retained his WBA middleweight world title with a ninth-round stoppage of Danny Garcia. The gradual tempo of the bout drew boos from the gang, however 41-year-old Cuban-born southpaw Erislandy linked with a straight left that dropped Garcia to a knee late within the ninth.
When the spherical ended, Garcia’s father and coach Angel known as for the bout to be halted. “I took him to highschool,” mentioned Lara, who improved to 31-3-3 with 19 knockouts. Garcia, combating for the primary time since July 2022, fell to 37-4 with 21 wins inside the gap.
