Alvarez dominates Berlanga, defends titles

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) defended his WBC, WBA and WBO world titles, defeating on Saturday night (September 14) Edgar Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) of Puerto Rico via unanimous decision in front of sold-out crowd at “T-Mobile Arena” in Las Vegas.

Alvarez dropped Berlanga once in third round and dominated throughout the fight. The judges scored the fight 118:109, 117:110 and 118:109 for Alvarez.

“I did good. Now what are they going to say? They said I don’t fight young fighters,” said Álvarez, who was making his eighth super middleweight title defense. “They always talk, but I’m the best fighter in the world.”

In undercard Erislandy Lara (31-3-3) defended WBA World middleweight title. 41-year-old Cuban defeated Danny Carcia (37-4) via TKO in round nine.

“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 (23-2) 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.”