Undisputed super middleweight champion on Saturday night Saul “Canelo” Alvarez outpointed challenger Edgar Berlanga in front of a sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Arena.
Making his eighth super middleweight title defense, the 34-year-old Alvarez (61-2-2) dominated much of the fight, using his experience and tenacious pursuit to wear down the 27-year-old challenger, frequently sending 20,312 fans into a frenzy, often chanting: “Mexico” or “CA-NEL-O.”
Berlanga lost for the first time in his career, dropping to 22-1-0.
Photo: AFP
“I did good. Now what are they going to say? They said I don’t fight young fighters,” said Alvarez, who was making his eighth super middleweight title defense. “They always talk, but I’m the best fighter in the world.”
Judges Max DeLuca and Steve Weisfeld scored the fight 118-109, while judge David Sutherland had it 117-110.
Berlanga almost matched Alvarez’s punch output, but the champion was much more accurate. Alvarez landed 43.3 percent (201 of 464) of the punches he threw, while Berlanga connected on just 119 of 446 (26.7 percent). Alvarez also landed 49.1 percent (133 of 271) of his power punches.
Alvarez, a four-division champion, still has not ended a fight early since scoring a technical knockout of Caleb Plant nearly three years ago, when he became the undisputed champion.
It appeared that drought might end when a sharp left hook to the chin dropped Berlanga in the third round, and further punishment from Alvarez seemed to be taking a toll. Alvarez landed a crisp right uppercut in the fifth and a vicious hook in the sixth.
However, Berlanga would not go away, as he stood toe-to-toe and matched Alvarez’s machismo, refusing to be bullied by the man he had called “my idol” after the fight.
He also got wild in the seventh, missing a wild overhand right that caused him to fall on the canvas, and was warned for a headbutt to Alvarez’s face in the eighth round.
“I got a little angry with his tactics, but I’m Mexican, man,” Alvarez said. “It means a lot to fight on this day. It’s an honor to represent my country on this day.”
It marked one of the biggest nights in combat sports on Mexican Independence Day for Las Vegas, as the UFC made its debut at the Sphere, just three miles down Las Vegas Boulevard, with seven Mexican fighters in the lineup.
The IBF removed Alvarez’s title after he chose to fight Berlanga rather than fight its No. 1 challenger, William Scull.
In an uneventful WBA middleweight championship bout, 41-year-old Erislandy Lara (31-3-3) defended his title against Danny Garcia (37-4-0) with a TKO at three minutes of the ninth round thanks to a straight left jab to the face. Garcia’s father and trainer, Angel, requested the stoppage after the round.
“The punches I was landing were hurting him,” said Lara, the oldest active world champion in boxing. “That punch that ended the fight was a big shot.”
After falling behind on the scorecards early during a battle for the interim WBA super middleweight belt, Caleb Plant overcame being knocked down in the fourth, dominated the last four rounds and earned a ninth-round TKO of Trevor McCumby (28-1-0).
With time winding down, Plant unleashed a flurry of punches to McCumby’s head that prompted referee Allen Huggins to stop the bout at the 2:59 mark.
“I knew I had him hurt and had to go to work,” Plant said. “It was time to get my belt. Now I’m ready to go home and play with my daughter.”
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS