WBA, WBC and WBO World Super Middleweight Champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez defended his title, easily defeating previously undefeated Edgar ‘The Chosen One’ Berlanga via a 12-round unanimous decision Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In the co-feature, WBA World Middleweight Champion Erislandy Lara defeated former 140 and 147-lb champion Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia by ninth-round TKO.
In the main event, Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) won a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision over Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs).
There was little action in the first two rounds, with Alvarez winning both. In the third round, a Canelo left hook on the chin dropped Berlanga for an 8 count from referee Harvy Dock. He managed to get up and fight his way back to the bell.
In the fourth round, Berlanga came back with an effective jab and took the round. Canelo was unable to pick up where he left off in the previous round after dropping Berlanga.
In the fifth round, Berlanga again did enough with his jab to keep Canelo from landing any offense. In the sixth round, Berlanga had another good round using his jab, with Canelo’s face showing puffiness under both eyes.
In the seventh round, Canelo came back with a jab from his own, out-of-country Berlanga. In the eighth round’s final minute, Berlanga slid hard to the canvas, having trouble getting to his feet.
Berlanga warned that he used his head. In the ninth round, Canelo continued to outwork Berlanga. In the tenth round, Canelo had his way of driving Berlanga back throughout.
A right to the chin in the final seconds hurt Berlanga. Berlanga came back and landed a jab, and Canelo walked to a corner as referee Dock came in as the boxers had words.
In the eleventh round, Canelo worked and knocked out Berlanga, who may have hurt his right hand. In the twelfth and final round
In the eleventh round, Canelo continued to drive Berlanga around and took the round. In the twelfth and final round, after Berlanga came out of a clinch, Berlanga looked at his corner, which encouraged him to throw punches. He did the rest of the round, which ended with the most action of the fight, with both mixing it up.
Scores were 117-110, 118-109 and 118-109.
In the joint 2-division world champion and current WBA World Middleweight champion Erislandy ‘The American Dream’ Lara, 32-3-3 (20), #156 ¾, of Guantanamo, CUB, Houston, TX, former WBC and WBA Light Welterweight Champion WBC Welterweight Champion Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia, 37-4 (21), #156 ¼, of Philadelphia, PA., after dropping him in the ninth, Garcia could not for the tenth round of ‘ a scheduled 12 does not come out. rounds.
In the first four rounds there was little action. In the third round, Garcia received a small cut on his left eyelid due to a clash of heads. The fans were anxiously waiting for something to happen in this one.
In the fifth round, Garcia appeared to have moved up to a heavier weight and it showed. On the other hand, Lara doesn’t do much anymore. In the final minute of the sixth round, Garcia started landing rights to the chin of Lara, but not enough to take the round.
In the seventh round, Lare took another round due to a strong finish. In the eighth round, Garcia did enough to take his first round. In the ninth round, Garcia was knocked down for an 8 count from referee Thomas Taylor. At the end of the round, Garcia’s corner called a halt.
Former IBF Super Middle Champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant, 23-2 (14), #167 ¼, of Las Vegas, NV, via Nashville, TN, came off the canvas earlier and stopped Trevor ‘Tenacious’ McCumby, 28- 1 ( 21), #167 ¼, of Glendale, AZ, at 2:59 of the ninth round of a scheduled 12-rounder, for the WBA interim title.
In the first round, Plant, who returned after 18 months off, did well. In the second round, Plant hurt McCumby early. McCumby came back well but Plant took the lap. In the third round, McCumby threw Plant to the canvas with a warning from referee Alan Huggins. McCumby had a good finish of punching for Plant. In the fourth round, a left hook from McCumby dropped Plant for an 8 count from referee Huggins.
In the fifth round, Plant pinned McCumby in a corner as the bell rang and they had words. In the sixth round, Plant started showboating in a tie round which he took.
In the seventh round, McCumby had his best round in a round of action. In the eighth round, Plant had an edge, but McCumby had his moments. In the ninth round, Plant clipped the right eyebrow of McCumby working him against the ropes and landed a dozen unanswered punches that forced referee Huggins to wave it off.
Former WBA World Super Light Champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, 16-2 (13), #140 ¾, of Las Vegas, NV, defeated Manuel Jaimes, 16-2-1-1 (11), #139 ¾, of Defeated Stockton, CA, over 10 rounds.
Little action in the first two rounds. In the third, Romero hurt Jaimes with a right to the chin. Romero did enough to take the third and fourth rounds.
In the sixth and seventh rounds, Romero had a slight edge. In the eighth round, Romero was hurt by a Jaimes right hand. In the ninth round, Romero landed Jaimes. In the tenth and final round, Romero assaulted Jaimes in a tough fight.
Referee Robert Hoyle. The scores were all 99-91.
Former WBO and WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Stephen ‘Cool Boy Steph’ Fulton, 22-1 (8), #126, of Philadelphia, PA, came off the canvas to win a split decision if not over the former WBC Continental Americas -livestock champion Carlos undisputed Castro, 30-3 (18), #125 ½, of Ciudad Obregon, MEX and Phoenix, AZ, over 10 solid rounds.
In the first round, Castro controlled with an effective jab that kept Fulton, who returned to the ring more than a year since losing his title and his first loss didn’t produce much except one good left hook. In the third round, Castro drew blood from the nose of Fulton in the opening minute. His jab caused Fulton problems.
In the fourth round Castro drew flood from the nose of Fulton. Fulton finally returned to championship form in the final minute. In the fifth round, Castro dropped Fulton with a counter right to the chin for an 8 count from referee Alan Huggins. He managed to get to the end after winning the round to the tee.
In the sixth round, Fulton came back well from the knockdown in the previous fight. Moving up from super bantamweight to featherweight in the seventh round to face such a tough opponent turned out to be a mistake for the most part, as Cruz proved he’s more than tough. In the eighth round after a minute, a right from Castro nearly dropped Fulton who held on for four over a minute until he received “a harsh warning” from referee Huggins.
In the ninth round of not being a puncher, Fulton might be a knockout in trouble. Fulton landed several good left hooks and snapped back the head of Castro and took the round. In the tenth and final round, Philly’s top trainer ‘Bozy’ Ennis now in his corner and urged Fulton to open up with power punches. Halfway through the round, Fulton landed a left hook that rocked Castro.
In the final minute, Fulton nearly dropped Castro with a right to the chin that took the final round.
Scores were 95-94 Castro, 96-93 Fulton and 95-94 Fulton. The fans were not happy. It may have been a contested victory for Fulton.
Welterweight Roiman ‘Flaco de Oro’ Villa, 26-3 (24), #146 ¼, of Rosario, VZ, was knocked out by Ricardo ‘Majic Man’ Salas, 20-2-2 (15), #146, of Mexico City , MEX, in 2:06 of the third round of a scheduled 10 rounds.
In the first round, the action started early with an excellent first round by both fighters. In the second round, the action continued. Referee Mike Ortega warned Roiman several times for low blows.
In the third round, with both fighters slugging it out when a short right from Salas landed and down Roiman on his back took the full count from referee Ortega. It was the second consecutive stoppage for Roiman. In his last fight, he was stopped by Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in July 2023.
Super Middle Southpaw Bek Nurmaganbet, 12-0 (10), #?, of Turkestan, KAZ, defeated Joshua ‘Young Gun’ Conley, 17-6-1 (11), #?, of San Bernadino, CA, in the second time stopped. round of a scheduled 6 rounds.
In the second round, a storm from Nurmaganbet caused Referee ? to stop the defenseless Conley.
Super Feather Jonathan ‘The Rock’ Lopez, 17-0(12), #130, of Orlando, FL defeated Richard ‘Ricky El’Punishment’ Medina, 15-3(8), #130, of San Antonio, TX 8 bloody rounds.
In the first round, Lopez knocked the mouthpiece out of Medina. In the next three rounds, Lopez had his way. In the fifth round he suffered a cut to his right eyebrow from a head cut.
In the eighth and final rounds final seconds, a left from Lopez on the chin dropped Medina who received an 8 count from referee Robert Hoyle. He managed to get to the bell. Both fighters had blood on their faces.
Scored 80-71 by all 3 judges.
Light heavyweight Lawrence ‘Dawg’ King, 16-1 (13), #?, of San Bernadino, CA, southpaw Vaughn Williams, 12-1 (8), #?, of Greenville, SC, 8 rounds.
Middle Yoenli Hernandez, 4-0 (4), #?, of Camaguey, CUB, Miami, FL, Jose ‘Matador’ Sanchez Charles, 21-5-1 (12), #?, of Reynosa, MEX, 8 rounds.
