Canelo Alvarez keeps his date regardless of UFC and opponent

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez shall be criticized for selecting Edgar Berlanga as his subsequent opponent, however even one among his most vocal critics delivered reward for the stance he’s taking in not budging off Mexican Independence weekend.

“No person takes ‘Canelo’ off the Las Vegas perch,” ProBox TV’s Paulie Malignaggi mentioned on “Deep Waters.” “We thought he was getting kicked off by [UFC president] Dana White.

“Canelo says, ‘No! Nada! Las Vegas is my home! It’s my weekend!’”

Within the face of the UFC’s debut card on the colourful, multi-dimensional Las Vegas Sphere on Sept. 14, the undisputed tremendous middleweight champion Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) is staying placed on the identical night time on the T-Cellular Area, readying the formal announcement he’ll battle Brooklyn, New York’s Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs).

The choice has been broadly panned as a result of Alvarez bypassed his WBC necessary challenger David Benavidez.

“A Canelo battle is all the time an occasion, all the time a giant deal,” Malignaggi mentioned. “Is Vegas excited sufficient to bypass the UFC hype when Canelo’s deciding on a man on the following tier down?

“Does Berlanga have a large enough title, particularly on the West Coast, to push again towards the UFC card?” 

Malignaggi’s fellow analyst Chris Algieri argued that Las Vegas is Alvarez’s city – particularly on a Mexican vacation weekend.

“They’ll come out in droves – I really like the Mexican followers,” Algieri mentioned. “Then, with Edgar Berlanga – this undefeated, younger Puerto Rican man. In New York or Florida [where Berlanga trains], it’s, ‘Let’s go to Vegas!’ They’ll go head-to-head with the UFC.”