Home Columns Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga – Results & Post Fight Report

Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga – Results & Post Fight Report

Canelo retained his three world titles against Berlanga

By
Danny Gilfillan
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Canelo proved to be too much for Berlanga (Photo Credit: AP)
Canelo proved to be too much for Berlanga (Photo Credit: AP)

Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez retained his unified super middleweight championship with a wide unanimous decision over the game Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas.

PBC promoted Canelo vs Berlanga, whilst DAZN and Amazon Prime shared broadcasting rights.

Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) came into the contest a huge underdog, and the occasion appeared to be getting to him in the early stages of the contest. He was immediately pushed onto the back foot by Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), was reluctant to let his hands go and was heavily biting on the champion’s feints.

In the third round, Canelo scored a knockdown with an absolute peach of a left hook, whipped round the Berlanga guard at a speed so fast it was borderline cartoonish. To ‘The Chosen One’s credit, he didn’t appear badly hurt and saw out the rest of the round well.

Being sent to the canvas actually seemed to somehow settle Berlanga into the contest, and he gradually grew in confidence from that point. Though he didn’t win many rounds, the Brooklyn puncher wasn’t without moments of success going forward and showed an impressive defence on the ropes – not to mention a strong chin.

There were several ill tempered flash points, most notably when Canelo landed a clean right hand after the referee called break, though this was a somewhat justifiable response to some blatant use of the head from his young foe.

However, at the end of a thoroughly entertaining final round, the pair immediately fell into an embrace, with Berlanga thanking the Guadalajara star for the opportunity before admitting he was his idol.

To the surprise of no one in the T-Mobile Arena, Alvarez was awarded a wide unanimous decision victory and marches on with his three word titles. Berlanga, though well beaten, answered some long lasting questions that have cast a shadow him for some time and proved he has plenty of substance to back up the gusto.

Canelo won by a wide margin but Berlanga emerged with credit (PBC X account)
Canelo won by a wide margin but Berlanga emerged with credit (PBC X account)
Lara defends against Garcia

In a battle of the veterans, Cuban southpaw Erislandy Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) scored a stoppage win over Danny Garcia (37-4, 21 KOs) to retain the WBA middleweight world championship.

Garcia looked a shadow of himself and retired from the contest after nine rounds of action. 41-year-old Lara continues to enjoy an Indian summer and has now won six in a row.

Garcia struggled to get going against Lara (PBC X account)
Garcia struggled to get going against Lara (PBC X account)
Plant dispatches of McCumby

In his first outing since falling short against David Benavidez last year, former super middleweight world champion Caleb Plant (23-2, 14 KOs) got the unheralded Trevor McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs) out of there in the ninth round.

Plant, who survived an early knockdown, now holds an interim strap at 168lbs and could be in line for another world title shot in 2025.

Romero bounces back

Polarizing super lightweight Rolando Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) was back in action at the T-Mobile following his beat down at the hands of Isaac Cruz back in March.

Manuel Jaimes (16-2, 11 KOs), who had previously only fought on small hall shows, was game and tough, however found himself on the wrong end of a wide unanimous decision defeat to ‘Rolly,’ who has been earmarked as a potential comeback opponent for Ryan Garcia.

Romero notched a much needed win (PBC X account)
Romero notched a much needed win (PBC X account)
Fulton squeaks past Castro

In his first fight at 126lbs, former super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) found himself in a tougher contest than advertised against the rugged Carlos Castro (30-3, 14 KOs).

‘Scooter’ was buzzed at several stages and even heavily dropped, however managed to edge out a split decision win on the scorecards.

Villa stunned by Salas

It was a night to forget for former Jaron Ennis opponent Romain Villa (26-3, 24 KOs), who suffered a shock third round stoppage loss to Ricardo Salas Rodriguez (20-2-2, 15 KOs).

Villa went on the front foot as always, however walked on to a devastating right hand that brought the contest to a close.

Further undercard recap

In the eight rounders, both Yoenli Hernandez (5-0, 5 KOs) and Laurence King (17-1, 14 KOs) scored second round KO wins over Jose Sanchez Charles (21-6-1, 12 KOs) and Vaughn Williams (12-2, 8 KOs), whilst Jonathan Lopez (17-0, 12 KOs) had to settle for a decision victory over Richard Medina (15-3, 8 KOs).

Undefeated Kazakh Bek Nurmaganbet (12-0, 10 KOs) only needed two of six to get rid of Joshua Conley (17-7-1, 11 KOs) in the card’s opener.

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