Las Vegas, Nevada – Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) continues his super middleweight championship reign by defeating another hungry lion in Edgar Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs).
Canelo put on a masterful performance in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,312 at the T-Mobile Arena. Berlanga played it safe by boxing Canelo on the outside instead of trading with him on the inside as he said he would during the lead-up to the fight.
Predicting he would knock Canelo out by the 6th round. Canelo scored a third-round knockdown with a vicious left hook that sent Berlanga to the canvas. Berlanga survived the round and the match and ultimately received recognition from the crowd for his valiant effort. The pro-Canelo crowd applauded his efforts at the end of the match.
Canelo outlanded Berlanga in every category, landing more jabs and power punches. He landed an astonishing 49.1 percent of his power punches, demonstrating he still can perform at a high level. Berlanga did not have an effective defense to thwart Canelo’s attack.
Canelo was able to land with precision. Berlanga’s output consisted heavily of his jab, throwing 260 but only landing a lowly 20.8 percent of them. His attack was ineffective and came short of truly causing Canelo any real damage (Compubox).
At the post-fight press conference, Canelo stated that he would take some time to rest and think about his next opponent. Turki Alalshikh and Terence Crawford called out Canelo last night from the Sphere, stating they were ready for him. When pressed about Terence Crawford, Canelo simply stated no comment.
Canelo stated that if he does move up to 175 pounds, he will do so only to fight Dmitry Bivol and nobody else. Another possible option for Canelo is facing the new IBF super middleweight champion, whomever that may be. There is no current champion.
Canelo was stripped of the belt for failure to face the mandatory IBF number one contender, William Scull. The prestige of becoming an undisputed champion could be luring him once again.
We’ll have to wait and see who wins the Canelo sweepstakes. Many would like the opportunity to win a multimillion-dollar payday. Terence Crawford, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, and Dmitry Bivol have all expressed interest in fighting Canelo.
At the displeasure of many, Canelo can pick and choose who he faces next. For Edgar Berlanga, although he lost, his star power has risen. His valiant effort earned him the respect of the fans, and they’ll want to see more of him in the future. The top options for Berlanga are previous Canelo opponents Caleb Plant or Jaime Munguia.
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