Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga are having a long staredown after their press conference on September 11th. Alvarez defends his RING, WBC, WBA and WBO championships on September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Photo credit: Ryan Hafey, Premier Boxing Champions)
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was once again well below the weight limit for the division he still rules.
The RING, WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight champion was a ripped 166.8 pounds, while challenger Edgar Berlanga was 167.6 pounds. Their Premier Boxing Champion on Prime Video Pay-Per-View headliner takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. PPV.com and DAZN will also broadcast the a la carte event, which begins at 8:00 PM ET.
Guadalajara’s Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 knockouts) was the exact same weight for his last fight at this very venue. The long-reigning super middleweight king outpointed Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) at T-Mobile in May.
This was his seventh defense of The Ring crown and fourth as undisputed champion. His fully unified reign became one belt lighter when he was forced to vacate the IBF title earlier this summer. Alvarez was mandated to challenge the IBF no. 1 contender William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) to face.
Instead, he chose the man who will share the ring with him on Saturday night.
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), The Ring’s no. 7-rated super middleweightenters his first career title fight.
The undefeated 6’1″ Nuyorican from Brooklyn has now weighed in at about the same for five straight fights. He earned this opportunity after a sixth-round knockout of undefeated Padraig McCrory in their WBA title eliminator on February 24.
A clear path to Alvarez was made when David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) relinquished his WBA ‘Regular’ title reign and moved up to light heavyweight.
The knockout win over McCrory (18-1. 9 KOs) was Berlanga’s first since December 2020. He had recorded sixteen straight first-round stoppages before being forced to go the distance in five straight starts.
PBC on Prime PPV Undercard (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Erislandy Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs), Houston via Camaguey. Cuba, 156.8 lbs
Danny Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 156.2 lbs
12 rounds, for Lara’s WBA middleweight title
Caleb Plant (22-2, 12 KOs), Las Vegas via Ashland City, Tennessee, 167.2 lbs
Trevor McCumby (28-0, KOs), Glendale, Arizona, 167.2 lbs
12 rounds, for vacant interim WBA super middleweight title
Rolando Romero (15-2, 13 KOs), Las Vegas, 140.8 lbs
Manuel Jaimes (16-1-1, 11 KOs), Stockton, Calif., 139.8 pounds
10 rounds, junior welterweight
PPV Prelims, 6pm ET/3pm PT
Stephen Fulton (21-1, 8 KOs), Philadelphia, 126 lbs
Carlos Castro (30-2, 14 KOs), Phoenix, Arizona, 125.6 lbs
10 rounds, featherweight
Roiman Villa (26-2, 24 KOs), Rosario, Venezuela, lbs
Ricardo Salas (19-2-2, 14 KOs), Mexico City, Mexico, lbs
10 rounds, welterweight
Jonathan Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs), Orlando, Florida, lbs
Richard Medina (15-2, 8 KOs), San Antonio, Texas, lbs
8 rounds, junior lightweight
