Mexican superstar and pound-for-pound great Canelo Álvarez delivered another virtuoso performance by dropping the previously unbeaten Edgar Berlanga on his way to defending his unified WBC, WBA and WBO Super Middleweight World Championships via unanimous decision as Canelo Promotions presented a Mexican Independence Day Weekend extravaganza headlining a PBC Pay-Per-View available on Prime Video Saturday night from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
"I did good. Now what are they gonna say? They said I don't fight young fighters. They always talk, but I'm the best fighter in the world,” said Canelo.
In the latest edition of the historic boxing rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico, Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) sent his legion of fans into a frenzy early as he connected on a perfect left hook midway through round three that sent Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) to the mat. Berlanga was able to make it through the round and tried to impose his physicality on Canelo, with the two getting tied up, trading low blows and nearly hitting the canvas in a tense moment during round five.
"I got a little angry with his tactics, but I'm Mexican man,” said Canelo. “It means a lot to fight on this day. It's an honor to represent my country on this day.”
"I'm upset because at the end of the day I'm a winner,” said Berlanga. “I fought a legend tonight and did my best to represent Puerto Rico. We're fighters and we try to throw our opponent off their game. I took his best shot and I knew I could take his punches and return them. I could have jabbed a lot more, but I was in there with a legend.”
Using the ring generalship that’s made him a future Hall of Famer, Canelo continued to control the action, turning up the heat in the later rounds, landing 16 power shots in round eight and 20 in round ten, according to CompuBox. The punch stats reflected Canelo’s dominance throughout the 12 rounds, as he out landed Berlanga 201 to 119.
"My experience and my talent was the difference,” said Canelo. “It's about hard work and intelligence. It's everything together. If you have talent, you need discipline as well.”
Berlanga remained game throughout, continuing to throw punches and look for openings, even as Canelo broke him down with his varied attack. In the end, Canelo’s 49% connect rate on power punches buoyed him to victory by scores of 118-109 twice and 117-110.
"A lot of people say we can't, but we can,” said Canelo “Las Vegas is like a second home for Mexicans. We are warriors and we never give up. I’m going to rest and then I'm going to decide what's next."
#CaneloBerlanga #Canelo #Berlanga
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