For Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the glass-half-full assessment of Saturday night time’s victory over Edgar Berlanga on the T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas is obvious sufficient: He gained, he retained his lineal tremendous middleweight championship, and he stays – a minimum of so long as David Benavidez is plying his commerce at gentle heavyweight – the unquestioned greatest within the 168-pound division.
The glass-half-empty assessment, which can be just a little harsh, is that as he enters his relative dotage, his fights have grow to be just a little predictable. Sooner or later, Alvarez will ship his overmatched challenger to the canvas and seemingly be in with a shot of stopping him, however the second will move and he’ll find yourself going the total distance earlier than his hand is raised in victory.
So it was towards Berlanga in the principle occasion of a PBC on Prime pay-per-view, a combat through which Alvarez as soon as once more appeared on the cusp of an early night time however ended up counting on the judges. However, as together with his different latest outings towards Jermell Charlo, John Ryder and Jaime Munguia, Alvarez continued to land with ruthless effectivity all through – he related with 49 p.c of his energy punches – even when he now not fairly has the additional gear to offer a spectacular end.
Importantly, he left his followers, together with the 20,312 contained in the T-Cellular Enviornment, greater than happy and considering his subsequent outing on Cinco de Mayo weekend 2025.
Alvarez made his intentions clear early on, backing Berlanga to the ropes and touchdown a left/proper mixture within the second spherical. Berlanga responded with a pleasant uppercut after which one other to the stomach; though he was being backed up, the Puerto Rican regarded snug within the early going.
Within the third, together with his again to the ropes, Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) despatched a trio of stiff jabs in Canelo’s course, however then Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) landed an ideal left hook that spun Berlanga’s head round and dropped him to the canvas. Berlanga would up on the seat of his pants however instantly banged his fists collectively in frustration and returned to the battle.
The fourth noticed Alvarez as soon as extra backing Berlanga to the ropes. He jabbed his foe to the physique and landed a straight proper hand upstairs. Then he landed a hook and proper hand upstairs and a hook to the physique. Berlanga jabbed as Canelo stalked.
There have been frequent flashes of anger and irritation from each males, together with within the fifth when Alvarez had Berlanga in a headlock and hit him within the physique. However for all the stress and flashes of aggression, Berlanga was failing to impose himself on Canelo, who always stalked ahead, always sought to chop off the ring and pin him to the ropes, and at all times looked for an angle to land one other of his vaunted left hooks.
Although he gave the impression to be dropping just about each spherical, Berlanga, to his credit score, regarded snug and did have his moments, his output slowing more and more because the combat progressed. A sneaky uppercut landed for the challenger within the sixth, and within the seventh he started lastly to unleash his proper hand.
Nonetheless, although, Alvarez was the person making the combat, and within the eighth, after not fairly absolutely connecting with a vicious hook, he landed a giant proper hand and a pointy counter as Berlanga overreached with a proper hand and left himself open. And on a regular basis, Alvarez dug repeatedly to Berlanga’s physique, touchdown 49 physique punches all through the combat, in comparison with simply 18 for Berlanga.
The ninth was one other robust spherical for Alvarez, because it turned more and more clear that Berlanga was not going to open up and threat a stoppage defeat in pursuit of a spectacular victory. An enormous proper hand landed for Alvarez, and a hook and an uppercut with Berlanga pinned in a nook, adopted by an overhand proper to the temple.
In Spherical 10, there was one other flashpoint, Alvarez strolling away when he confused the 10-second warning clapper for the round-ending bell. Berlanga, as was his proper, promptly cracked him, prompting Alvarez to yell at him in anger as his rival gestured towards him.
Berlanga threw a complete of 186 energy punches in the course of the contest, 79 of them coming within the ultimate three rounds as he lastly started to decide to his offense. The 2 males exchanged livid punches within the championship rounds, however as soon as once more Canelo’s landed with better frequency, accuracy and solidity. The tip of the eleventh noticed Berlanga trapped in Alvarez’s nook, offering a chance for the 2 males to shout at one another once more because the spherical ended and referee Harvey Dock intervened.
Regardless of all of the obvious dangerous blood, when the bell rang to finish the competition, the 2 males pulled one another right into a hug and talked to one another for a full minute or two, exhibiting one another the respect they’d earned over the earlier 47 minutes.
The consequence was in little doubt. David Sutherland noticed the competition 117-110 in Alvarez’s favor, whereas Max DeLuca and Steve Weisfeld each noticed it one spherical wider, at 118-109.
“I’m upset as a result of, on the finish of the day, I’m a winner,” stated Berlanga afterward. “I fought a legend tonight and did my greatest to symbolize Puerto Rico. I took his greatest shot and I knew I may take his punches and return them. I may have jabbed much more, however I used to be in there with a legend.”
“My expertise and my expertise was the distinction,” stated Canelo. “It’s about exhausting work and intelligence. I did good. Now what are they gonna say? They stated I don’t combat younger fighters. They at all times speak, however I’m the most effective fighter on this planet.”
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, amongst different shops. He additionally writes recurrently for Nationwide Geographic, has written a number of books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His web site is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
