Canelo Too Good for Berlanga

By William Dumoulin
Photo credit: Premier Boxing Champions

This Saturday, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Premier Boxing Champions presented a mega event headlined by super middleweight king Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, defending his WBC, WBA, and WBO titles against WBA's number one contender, Puerto Rican Edgar Berlanga. Here’s a recap of the night.

In the main event, Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) faced Edgar Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) in a 12-round bout. In the 4th round, Canelo dropped Berlanga with a devastating left hook. However, the Puerto Rican rebounded well, putting up a respectable fight against the super middleweight monarch, defying many observers who predicted a knockout win for the Mexican star. Canelo ultimately secured a wide unanimous decision (117-110, 118-109 X 2), further solidifying his top position in the division.

Canelo’s future promises exciting matchups, with several fighters lining up to face him. A rematch with Dmitry Bivol is being considered, as well as a mega fight with Terence Crawford, potentially backed by Saudi Arabia as part of the Riyadh Season. Christian Mbilli is also an option for Canelo, as "Solide" is ranked number one by the WBC and is coming off an impressive win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

In the co-main event, WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) defended his title against popular American fighter Danny Garcia (37-4, 21 KOs). In a rather uneventful bout, Lara won by corner stoppage after Garcia refused to come out for the 10th round.

Former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant (23-2, 14 KOs) was looking to get back on track against fellow American Trevor McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs). The fight proved tougher than expected for Plant, who was knocked down in the 4th round. However, he managed to turn things around, stopping McCumby in the 9th round.

Finally, opening the main card, former WBA super lightweight champion Rolando Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) returned to the ring after his loss to Isaac Cruz last March. He faced Manuel Jaimes (16-2-1, 11 KOs), winning by unanimous decision (99-91 X 3).