Tale of the tape
Here’s a look at how Álvarez and Berlanga measure up ahead of tonight’s main event. The challenger has a five-and-a-half-inch advantage in height and a two-and-a-half-inch edge in reach. But the chasm in experience between the fighters, both in number of bouts fought and total rounds, clearly favors Canelo.
Key events
Lara retains title after Garcia retires
Garcia retires after the ninth round and Lara retains his WBA middleweight title. Lara landed a straight left near the end of the ninth, almost like a jab, that dropped Garcia for the first time in his career. He made it to his feet and to the end of the round, but Angel had seen enough and told referee Thomas Taylor the fight was over. It may well be the last time we see the two-division champion from Philadelphia in the ring.
We’re halfway through the scheduled 12-round fight between Lara and Garcia. Not a whole lot of action to speak of and the crowd is getting restless. Garcia’s father and trainer, Angel, keeps asking him if he’s OK in the corner between rounds.
Tale of the tape
Here’s a look at how Álvarez and Berlanga measure up ahead of tonight’s main event. The challenger has a five-and-a-half-inch advantage in height and a two-and-a-half-inch edge in reach. But the chasm in experience between the fighters, both in number of bouts fought and total rounds, clearly favors Canelo.
One more preliminary fight before the main event. Ersilandy Lara is defending the WBA’s version of the middleweight title against Danny Garcia, a former world champion at junior welterweight and welterweight seeking to become the first ever three-division champion to hail from the great fighting city of Philadelphia. Worth mentioning: although the fight is for Lara’s middleweight belt, it has been contracted at a catch-weight of 157lbs, three pounds below the division limit.
At 41, Lara is the oldest active male world champion in the sport today.
Plant stops McCumby by ninth-round TKO
Caleb Plant has just stopped Trevor McCumby to win the vacant WBA interim super middleweight title. The unheralded McCumby went off as a lopsided underdog but took it to Plant in the opening rounds, knocking him down in the fourth, only for Plant to rally back and get the stoppage when the referee intervened with one second left in the ninth.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to tonight’s super middleweight title fight between Canelo Álvarez and Edgar Berlanga. Álvarez, the Mexican superstar and the face of boxing over the past decade, is defending his WBC, WBO and WBA titles at 168lbs against an unbeaten American challenger. Unfortunately for this sport’s long-suffering fans, it’s not the one they’ve been waiting years to see. Instead of taking on David Benavidez, who’s been his mandatory challenger for nearly two years, Álvarez is fighting Berlanga, a 27-year-old from Bushwick of Puerto Rican heritage who is undefeated in 22 professional outings, but whose stock has cooled somewhat since opening his ledger with 16 consecutive first-round knockout wins.
“I could be the face of Puerto Rican boxing after Saturday night,” Berlanga said this week. “I’ve wanted that for many years and now it’s my turn to do it.”
The odds will not be in his favor. Berlanga will go off as a 9-1 underdog on merit, even if the 34-year-old Álvarez has failed to score a knockout in nearly three years and has shown indications that he’s past his prime. In fact whether Canelo can finish his younger foe inside the distance may be the biggest drama in this one-sided matchup, which is certain to unfold before a rollicking crowd at T-Mobile Arena there to celebrate the Mexican holiday.
“It’s an honor to fight on this date,” Alvarez said. “Mexican Independence Day is very important for us. It’s very special and I’m very proud to fight for the Mexican people.”
Plenty more to come before the main event gets under way in about an hour and a half.
Bryan will be here shortly.
