Las Vegas, Nevada – Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) continues his super middleweight championship reign by defeating one other hungry lion in Edgar Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs).
Canelo placed on a masterful performance in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,312 on the T-Mobile Arena. Berlanga played it protected by boxing Canelo on the skin as an alternative of trading with him on the within as he said he would throughout the lead-up to the fight.
Predicting he would knock Canelo out by the sixth 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 gang for his valiant effort. The professional-Canelo crowd applauded his efforts at the tip 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 didn’t have an efficient defense to thwart Canelo’s attack.
Canelo was in a position 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 got here in need of truly causing Canelo any real damage (Compubox).
On the post-fight press conference, Canelo stated that he would take a while to rest and take into consideration 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 as much as 175 kilos, he’ll accomplish that only to fight Dmitry Bivol and no one else. One other possible option for Canelo is facing the brand new IBF super middleweight champion, whomever which may be. There isn’t a current champion.
Canelo was stripped of the belt for failure to face the mandatory IBF primary contender, William Scull. The prestige of becoming an undisputed champion could possibly be luring him once more.
We’ll need to wait and see who wins the Canelo sweepstakes. Many would love the chance to win a multimillion-dollar payday. Terence Crawford, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, and Dmitry Bivol have all expressed interest in fighting Canelo.
On the displeasure of many, Canelo can pick and select 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 so they’ll wish to see more of him in the long run. The highest options for Berlanga are previous Canelo opponents Caleb Plant or Jaime Munguia.