Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez proved he is still the man to beat in the super middleweight division after a win by unanimous decision against Edgar Berlanga.
Despite the dominant nature of the Mexican’s victory, Alvarez’s wait for a knockout continues. The 34-year-old has had to wait almost three years for a stoppage victory, since beating Caleb Plant in November 2021.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez successfully retained his unified super-middleweight world title after a unanimous decision victory over Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old won after scoring 117-110, 118-109, 118-109 on the judges’ scorecards, to inflict the first loss of Berlanga’s career.
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Alvarez retained the WBA, WBC and WBO titles with this result, and hit back at his critics after the victory.
He said: “I did good. Now what are they going to say? They said I don’t fight young fighters.
“They always talk, but I’m the best fighter in the world.”
It looked like Canelo may have ended his three-year wait for a knockout when Berlanga was caught with a shot to the head in round three, but the American held on until the 12th round.
The 27-year-old took plenty of punishment from Canelo after the Mexican successfully landed a brilliant uppercut in the fifth round and a superb hook in the sixth.
Berlanga fell to the canvas in round seven after missing with an overhand shot and received a warning for a headbutt in the eighth.
Alvarez admitted to being upset by his opponent’s antics on a huge night for Mexican fighters, with seven mixed martial artists also taking part in the UFC 306 event to mark Mexican Independence Day on Sunday.
“I got a little angry with his tactics, but I’m Mexican man,” Alvarez added. “It means a lot to fight on this day. It’s an honour to represent my country on this day.”
However, Alvarez’s decision to take this bout cost him the IBF belt after failing to fight the division’s No.1 challenger William Scull.
It remains to be seen what lies next for Alvarez, with WBA super welterweight champion Terence Crawford stating he would be open to a super-middleweight bout with the 34-year-old.
However, those plans were put on the back-burner with Turki Alalshikh reportedly turning his attention away from setting up what would have been a mouthwatering clash.
He posted on X: “I decided to disregard the Canelo fight, as I don’t want it anymore.
“Instead, I will be focusing for the US market with bigger fights, especially for the legend Crawford.
“Additionally, I will support making fights for Boots [Jaron Ennis], [Devin] Haney, Shakur [Stevenson], Ortiz, [Jared] Anderson, [David] Benavidez, [William] Zepeda and more.
“Regarding Tim Tszyu, there’s something unclear with the communications from his team with our team, so I believe I will reconsider his situation.”
