LAS VEGAS (AP) — Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeated challenger Edgar Berlanga on points in front of a sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
In his eighth super middleweight title defense, the 34-year-old Alvarez (61-2-2) dominated much of the fight, using his experience and dogged determination to wear down the 27-year-old challenger and frequently sending the 20,312 fans into a frenzy, who often chanted “Mexico! Mexico!” or “CA-NEL-O! CA-NEL-O!”
Berlanga lost for the first time in his career and fell to 22-1-0.
“I did well. What will they say now? They say I don’t fight young fighters,” said Alvarez, who defended his super middleweight title for the eighth time. “They always talk, but I’m the best fighter in the world.”
Judges Max DeLuca and Steve Weisfeld scored the fight 118-109 and judge David Sutherland scored it 117-110.
Berlanga almost matched Alvarez’s striking power, but the champion was much more accurate. Alvarez landed 43.3% (201 of 464) of his punches, while Berlanga landed just 119 of 446 (26.7%). Alvarez also landed 49.1% (133 of 271) of his power punches.
Alvarez, a four-division champion, has yet to lose a fight since his technical knockout of Caleb Plant nearly three years ago, when he became undisputed champion.
It seemed the dry spell might end when Berlanga went down with a sharp left hook to the chin in the third round, and further punishment from Alvarez seemed to take its toll. Alvarez landed a sharp right uppercut in the fifth round and a vicious hook in the sixth.
But Berlanga didn’t let up, he was no match for Alvarez and was not intimidated by the man he called “my idol” after the fight. He also let it rip in the seventh round, missing a wild right overhand that dropped him to the mat, and was given a warning for a headbutt to Alvarez’s face in the eighth round.
“I was a little angry about his tactics, but I’m Mexican,” said Alvarez. “It means a lot to me to fight that day. It’s an honor to represent my country that day.”
It was one of the biggest nights in martial arts on Mexican Independence Day for Las Vegas, as the UFC made its debut at the Spherejust three miles down Las Vegas Boulevard, with seven Mexican fighters in the squad.
Alvarez finished as -1600 favorite at BetMGM Sports Bettingmeaning a bettor would have had to bet $1,600 to win $100.
The IBF stripped Alvarez of his title after he chose to fight Berlanga instead of facing their No. 1 challenger, William Scull.
In a very uneventful WBA middleweight championship fight, 41-year-old Erislandy Lara (31-3-3) successfully defended his title against Danny Garcia (37-4-0) with a 9th round TKO three minutes into the fight thanks to a straight left punch to the face. Garcia’s father and trainer Angel called for the fight to be stopped after the round.
“The punches I landed hurt him,” said Lara, the oldest active female boxing world champion. “The punch that ended the fight was a hard punch.”
After falling behind early in a fight for the interim WBA super middleweight belt, Caleb Plant overcame a fourth-round knockdown to dominate the final four rounds and earn a ninth-round TKO over Trevor McCumby (28-1-0). As time expired, Plant unleashed a flurry of punches to McCumby’s head that prompted referee Allen Huggins to stop the fight at 2:59.
“I knew he was hurt and needed to get 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 on the main card of the pay-per-view event, Rolando Romero improved his record to 16-2-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Manual Jaimes (16-2-1), with all three judges scoring the fight with the same score of 99-91.
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