Undisputed tremendous middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez outpoints challenger Edgar Berlanga.
Mexican celebrity Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has retained his unified tremendous middleweight international name with a punishing unanimous resolution over Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas.
Alvarez knocked unwell the prior to now unbeaten Berlanga within the 3rd and used to be relentless right through the 12 rounds on Saturday night time. The champion rocked Berlanga with a heavy proper within the waning seconds of the 9th around and Berlanga’s cornerman may well be heard asking his fighter: “Are you awake?”, as he sat on his stool ahead of the tenth.
Berlanga, who used to be warned for an intentional head butt, remained defiant, taunting Alvarez as they got here out for the twelfth. However the Puerto Rican-American, who introduced his professional profession with 16 immediately first-round knockouts, may now not in finding the stoppage he had brashly predicted.
The hugely skilled Alvarez put him below power early, Berlanga having a look tentative within the opening two rounds as he used to be sponsored many times into the nook. He attempted gamely to reply within the 3rd nearest Alvarez landed a proper to the top, however a tragic left hook from Alvarez despatched him unwell. Berlanga banged his gloves in combination as he sat at the canvas and hopped up briefly.
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 used to be the 5th immediately issues victory for Alvarez, whose terminating win throughout the distance used to be an Eleventh-round knockout of Caleb Plant in November 2021. But it surely used to be the fourth consecutive combat wherein Alvarez scored a knockdown.
The four-division champion, who has been accused of ducking emerging megastar David Benavidez, stated he would rush once in a while to contemplate what’s then for him. “I’m going to rest with my family now and then I’m going to decide,” he stated.
At the undercard, Erislandy Lara retained his WBA middleweight international name with a ninth-round stoppage of Danny Garcia. The sluggish year of the bout drew boos from the community, however 41-year-old Cuban-born southpaw Erislandy hooked up with a immediately left that dropped Garcia to a knee overdue within the 9th.
When the around ended, Garcia’s father and schoolmaster Angel referred to as for the bout to be halted. “I took him to school,” stated Lara, who progressed to 31-3-3 with 19 knockouts. Garcia, combating for the primary age since July 2022, fell to 37-4 with 21 wins throughout the distance.