By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Canelo Alvarez showcased another boxing clinic after overpowering Edgar Berlanga via a unanimous decision victory to retain his super middleweight championship belts on September 15, 2024.
All of the judges scored the bout in favor of the Mexican superstar, 117-110, 118-109, 118-109, and successfully defended the division he reigned for the fifth straight time.
The unified super middleweight boxing champion kicked things off in an unusual pattern as he immediately overwhelmed Berlanga in the first two rounds.
Usually, Alvarez would start slow, calculating the tendencies of his opponents and begin to operate in the middle rounds.
However, against Berlanga who is known as an explosive fighter right from the get-go, the Alvarez camp decided to shift strategies that paid off dividends in the fight.
As early as the third round, Alvarez had already widened his gap in the scorecards after scoring a knockdown at the 1:57 mark.
After gauging Berlanga’s shoulder flick, Alvarez executed a well-timed fake that opened up his right jaw.
BOOM.
A devastating left hook then floored Berlanga, but the American quickly got up to his feet and went straight again to exchange haymakers with Alvarez.
Berlanga had some moments in the fight in the later rounds, standing his ground while hitting Alvarez with several right jabs but the reigning champion just toyed with him in the final period when he sensed that he was on his way for another lopsided title defense win.
With the win, Alvarez became the first boxer to defeat Berlanga in the professional scene and extended his winning streak to six straight fights.
Since falling at the hands of Dmitry Bivol two years ago, Alvarez has yet to lose a single fight and raked five consecutive unanimous decision victories.
