LAS VEGAS — He may have one less title, but Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is still the king. Álvarez floored Edgar Berlanga in the fourth round with a left hook and dominated the previously unbeaten New Yorker in a one-sided, exciting bout to defend three super middleweight titles before a sellout crowd of 20,312 at T-Mobile Arena. The judges scored the fight 117-110, 118-110, and 118-110, all for Alvarez, who has won five bouts in a row following his loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in May 2022.
It was a slow-paced fight for the first couple of rounds, but once Alvarez dropped Berlanga with a left hook in the third round, it was all but decided that Canelo would win the fight one way or the other. The question then became, could Berlanga do enough to survive? He did that and managed to surprise Alvarez on a few occasions. The energy was palpable as the crowd erupted in chants of “Canelo!” Canelo!” in the moments leading up to the opening bell. The fight opened with both men sizing each other up with their jabs and little else in what ultimately amounted to a feel-out round. With less than a minute remaining in the second round, the bad blood from the pre-fight buildup carried over into the fight. Alvarez connected with several illegal kidney shots, and Berlanga responded by hitting Canelo low. Referee Harvey Dock warned both fighters to knock it off.
The 34-year-old Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), who held the undisputed super middleweight world championship until he was stripped of the IBF version of the belt in July for not facing mandatory challenger William Scull, dropped Berlanga with a hard left hook at the beginning of round three. He followed up by battering him along the ropes with crisp shots to the body and uppercuts upstairs. Berlanga got his legs back underneath him and managed to survive the round.
In what was mostly a round controlled by Canelo, Berlanga finally had some semblance of success in the closing stages of the fourth. He backed up Alvarez from the ropes with a one-two combination and landed another right hand. But Canelo, arguably one of the greatest chins in boxing history, didn’t seem to be fazed at all by Berlanga’s power.
A minute into the fifth, Alvarez caught Berlanga with a pair of left hooks. A few seconds later, referee Harvey Dock called time after both men took turns fouling one another. Alvarez held Berlanga by his head, and the latter connected with several low blows in response. As Dock struggled to contain the situation, Alvarez promised to punish Berlanga. A good amount of back-and-forth action took place in the sixth round. Alvarez backed Berlanga up with a left hook to the head, while Berlanga fired back with his own left hook and managed to surprise Alvarez by implementing his jab to keep the Mexican superstar at a distance.
Alvarez slowly, methodically broke down Berlanga in the eighth round. He punched his previously undefeated opponent repeatedly in the left shoulder to wear him out and assaulted his ribs repeatedly with his vintage body attack, left hook after left hook. In the ninth, it was all Alvarez, and other than Berlanga surprising him with a right uppercut with 1:07 on the clock, it wasn’t even close. Canelo pinned Berlanga against the ropes and blitzed him with right crosses to the head and a sustained body attack.
In need of a miracle, Berlanga went on the attack in round 10, but Alvarez once again had his man on defense. With less than a minute remaining in the frame, both men jawed at one another, but Alvarez did more damage with his fists. When the round was nearly over, Canelo taunted Berlanga by turning his back, but Berlanga ran across the ring and nailed Alvarez with a left hook. Canelo shook it off and continued to get under Berlanga’s skin.
Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs), 27, who trains out of New York, gave a good account of himself throughout the fight but was outgunned in every department by Alvarez, who cruised to another win to defend three 168-pound titles. But if there is any silver lining for Berlanga, he fought a good fight against a guy who was levels better and showed heart when he could have easily thrown in the towel.
“I’m upset because at the end of the day I’m a winner. I fought a legend tonight and did my best to represent Puerto Rico,” Berlanga said. “We’re fighters and we try to throw our opponent off their game. I took his best shot and I knew I could take his punches and return them. I could have jabbed a lot more, but I was in there with a legend. I told Canelo that he’s my idol. Ever since I was a kid I looked up to him. I felt bad that we had bad blood when we first met. I want to thank him for the opportunity.”
For Canelo, his next fight could be the winner of the undisputed light heavyweight contest between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Danny Garcia Loses His Fight On The Stool
In the co-main event, Erislandy Lara scored a ninth-round TKO of former two-division world champion Danny Garcia. It was a chess match throughout, albeit an unpleasing one. Lara was in control throughout, connecting with straight lefts and hard right crosses, but Garcia weathered the storm–until he could no longer. As the end of the ninth round neared, Lara clobbered Garcia with a left hand he never saw coming. Garcia suffered a delayed reaction as his eyes flickered before taking a knee. In the corner, his father and trainer, Angel Garcia, stopped the fight to prevent his son from taking further punishment.
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