Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez defeated Edgar Berlanga by referee’s points to defend four super middleweight titles: WBA (Super), WBO, WBC and The Ring.
At the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the evening of September 14, Canelo dominated but could not knock out his American opponent Berlanga after 12 rounds, and had to decide the winner by referee points.
There were no surprises, as Canelo won by unanimous decision 118-109, 118-109, and 117-110. According to CompuBox statistics, Canelo threw 464 punches, with 201 landing – a rate of 43%, while Berlanga threw 446 punches but only landed 119, a rate of 27%.
Canelo also landed 193 jabs, 68 of which were landed – a rate of 35%. His opponent landed 260 jabs, only 54 of which were landed – a rate of 21%. The Mexican also landed 133 heavy blows – a rate of 49%, compared to Berlanga’s 65 and 35%.
With this result, Canelo increased his winning record to 62 times, in addition to two draws and two losses. The 34-year-old boxer’s two defeats came in the ring against “Undefeated” Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and Dmitry Bivol in May 2022.
In 2021, Canelo became the first and only fighter in history to become the absolute super middleweight champion and hold the title until July 2024. He has also held the Ring magazine super middleweight belt since 2020.
“I played too well,” Canelo said after defending his four world super middleweight belts. “What are people going to say now? They said I don’t fight younger guys. People always find reasons to criticize, but I’m the best fighter in the world.”
Berlanga, 27, had won all 22 of his professional fights before facing Canelo. He won the North American Super Middleweight Title by a unanimous decision over Marcelo Esteban Coceres in October 2021. He then defended his title against Steve Rolls, Roamer Alexis Angulo, and Jason Quigley.
As the underdog, Berlanga played conservatively, seemingly prioritizing staying for the full 12 rounds, despite his pre-fight claim that he would knock Canelo out in the sixth round. This strategy allowed Canelo to take the initiative, including knocking his opponent down in the third round, and not having to endure many counterattacks.
This is Canelo’s fifth consecutive win by referee’s decision. His last knockout victory (technical knockout) was against Caleb Plant in the 11th round on November 6, 2021 to defend his WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, The Ring super middleweight titles and take his opponent’s IBF belt.
Despite the victory, Canelo admitted that he was not satisfied and angry with his opponent’s holding tactics. But he was happy and saw this as a way to celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day on September 16.
Canelo is said to pocket 35 million USD, not including pay-per-view revenue from this match, while the loser received about 1 million USD from his first world title match.