Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez declared himself "the best fighter in the world" after easing past Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas on Saturday night to retain his unified super-middleweight titles.
Making the eighth defence of his 168-pound belts, the 34-year-old Mexican dominated much of the bout inside a sold-out T Mobile Arena, using his experience and tenacious pursuit to wear down the challenger. Berlanga, 27, lost for the first time in his career, dropping to 22-1-0 (17 KOs).
“I did good. Now what are they going to say? They said I don’t fight young fighters,” said Alvarez (62-2-2 39 KOs), who remains in possession of the WBC, WBO, and WBA titles. “They always talk, but I’m the best fighter in the world.”
Two of the three judges, Max DeLuca and Steve Weisfeld, scored the fight 118-109, while David Sutherland had it 117-110.
Berlanga almost matched Alvarez's punch output, but the champion was much more accurate; he landed 43.3 per cent (201 of 464) of the punches he threw, while the Puerto Rican connected on just 119 of 446 (26.7%). Alvarez also landed 49.1 per cent (133 of 271) of his power punches.
Alvarez, a four-division champion, still hasn’t ended a fight early since scoring a technical knockout of Caleb Plant nearly three years ago, when he became the undisputed champion.
It appeared that drought might end when a sharp left hook to the chin dropped Berlanga in the third round, and further punishment from Alvarez seemed to be taking a toll. Alvarez landed a crisp right uppercut in the fifth and a vicious hook in the sixth.
But Berlanga wouldn’t go away, as he stood toe-to-toe and matched Alvarez’s machismo, refusing to be bullied by the man he’d call “my idol” after the fight. He also got wild in the seventh round, missing a wild overhand right that caused him to fall on the canvas and was warned for a headbutt to Alvarez’s face in the eighth.
“I got a little angry with his tactics, but I’m Mexican, man,” Alvarez said following a fight that took place over Mexican Independence Day weekend. “It means a lot to fight on this day. It’s an honour to represent my country on this day.”
Lara retains title on undercard
In an uneventful WBA middleweight championship bout, Erislandy Lara (31-3-3 19 KOs) successfully defended his title against Danny Garcia (37-4-0 21 KOs) with a TKO at three minutes of the ninth round thanks to a straight left jab to the face. Garcia’s father and trainer, Angel, requested the stoppage after the round.
“The punches I was landing were hurting him,” said 41-year-old Lara, the oldest active world champion in boxing. “That punch that ended the fight was a big shot.”
After falling behind on the scorecards early during a battle for the interim WBA super middleweight belt, Caleb Plant (23-2-0 14 KOs) overcame being knocked down in the fourth, dominated the last four rounds, and earned a ninth-round TKO of Trevor McCumby (28-1-0). With time winding down, Plant unleashed a flurry of punches to McCumby’s head that prompted referee Allen Huggins to stop the bout at the 2:59 mark.
“I knew I had him hurt and had to go to work,” Plant said. “It was time to get my belt. Now I’m ready to go home and play with my daughter.”
In the first fight of the main card on the pay-per-view event, Rolando Romero improved to 16-2-0 (13 KOs) with a unanimous decision over Manual Jaimes (16-2-1 11 KOs), with all three judges scoring the fight 99-91.
