Canelo Alvarez will headline a boxing card in Las Vegas for the 18th time when he puts his WBC, WBO and WBA super middleweight titles on the line against Edgar Berlanga on Friday night. The fight card at T-Mobile Arena also includes Erislandy Lara defending his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia and a super middleweight bout between Caleb Plant and Trevor McCumby for the vacant WBA interim title.
Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has held titles in four divisions, including the lineal championship at middleweight and super middleweight. Alvarez became the undisputed super middleweight champion by defeating Plant by 11th round TKO in November 2021. He made four successful defenses before the IBF stripped him of his belt in July when Alvarez decided to face Berlanga instead of IBF mandatory challenger William Scull.
“I just want to show everybody that I’m still the best,” Alvarez said during a news conference Wednesday in Las Vegas. “I still love this sport. When I stop loving it, you’ll know. I love the routine and I love going to the gym every day.”
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO) has never fought for a world title. After starting his career 16-0, with all of his victories coming in the first round, Berlanga has scored just one stoppage in his past six victories.
Berlanga, a heavy underdog (+900 per ESPN BET), knows he has to do something special to beat Alvarez, one of the best fighters in the world.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Berlanga said. “It will be a firefight this weekend… I will make everyone believe. We have Puerto Rico vs. Mexico and we are going on Friday night.”
Let’s take a look at the title fight by the numbers, with data from ESPN Stats & Information and CompuBox.
-2000: Odds for Alvarez to win the fight, per ESPN BET.
1,582: Total seconds of fighting by Berlanga in the first 16 fights as a pro, all of which ended in the first round, for an average of 98.9 seconds per fight. The combined record of all 16 opponents during the fight is 175 wins, 67 losses and 15 draws.
4: Successful title defense by Alvarez as the undisputed super middleweight champion. He is the only male boxer with four undisputed title defenses in the four-belt era (since 2007).
21: Victory by Alvarez in world title fight; at 21-2-1, which is the fourth Mexican-born fighter with 20 or more wins in world title fights. With a victory on Saturday, he will surpass Marco Antonio Barrera for the third most wins in a world title fight by a Mexican fighter (Julio Cesar Chavez, 31; Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, 25).
11: The undisputed male champion of the modern era four belts. In addition to Alvarez, they are: Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, Teofimo Lopez, Josh Taylor, George Kambosos Jr., Devin Haney, Jermell Charlo and Naoya Inoue.
14.7: Punches landed by Alvarez in every round of 41 thrown (35.9%, No. 5 in accuracy among champions and title contenders).
4.2: Jabs landed per round by Alvarez from 18.3 (23%).
10.5: Power punches landed per round by Alvarez of 22.7 (46.3%), No. 6 among champions and title contenders.
6.6: Power punches per round landed on Alvarez by the opponent (30.1%).
12.4: Punches landed by Berlanga per round of 37.6 thrown (33%).
7.6: Power punches landed by Berlanga per round of 17.8 (42.7%).
5.8: Power punches landed in Berlanga every round by the opponent (29.9%).
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Although Berlanga was born in Brooklyn, New York, his Puerto Rican ancestry means this fight joins the famous Mexican-Puerto Rican title fight.
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Compared to Alvarez’s championship experience, Berlanga will fight for the world title for the first time in his career. It will be a big step in the competition for Berlanga, who came to the fight as No. 5-ranked super middleweight, according to ESPN.
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Canelo will make his eighth defense of at least one super middleweight title. He is currently a -2000 favorite to win (per ESPN BET), which would tie him for the second shortest odds to win a super middleweight title fight.
In his own words — from a news conference late Wednesday in Las Vegas
Berlanga on what the fight against Alvarez means to him: “It means everything to be in this position. I’m not supposed to be here. I’ve had doubts since before I turned pro. But I know that I’m bound to end up in this position.
“I can be the face of Puerto Rican boxing after Friday night. I have wanted that for many years and now it is my turn to do it.”
Belanga on the pre-war approach: “I’m a knockout artist. Every fighter wants to lose. We know he’s a legend and we can’t just go swinging for the fences. We have to do it the right way. Sixth round knockout, that’s what we did. But we’re ready for all 12 round if we have to.
Alvarez on his goal of getting a KO: “It’s easy to say you’re going to beat me, but it’s harder to do it. Saturday night will be very difficult for him, for sure. I’m ready to lose. I like the feeling of losing and I’ll do my best to finish it.
“I always put 100 percent into a fight and go to training, no matter who I fight. It’s the same mentality every fight. This is no exception. I’ve had a great training camp and I’m ready.”
Alvarez in action over Mexican Independence Day weekend: “It is an honor to fight on this date. Mexican Independence Day is very important to us. It is very special and I am very proud to fight for the Mexican people.
“The fans mean everything to me and I respect them. They support me no matter what and I thank everyone who has supported me throughout my career.”
