Who’s winning right now? Find out below!
TONIGHT (Sat., Sep. 14, 2024) live from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, we’ve got Saul “Canelo” Alvarez going up against Edgar Berlanga, in the latest installment of one of boxing’s longest rivalries — Mexico vs. Puerto Rico.
While Berlanga is not what most fight fans wanted (we were all pining for David Benavidez, sigh), this is still a great matchup featuring a Top 10-ranked fighter taking on the pound-for-pound great on one of the premier nights of boxing, Mexico’s Independence Day.
Canelo needs no introduction — he’s boxing’s biggest star right now and has been for a few years. Pretty much everyone knows who he is. However, he’s indulging in a bit of cherry picking right now, fighting what many perceive to be an easier fighter compared to other potential challenges out there. But, in the end, we’re still getting a great bout, so there’s no point in crying over the what if’s, but instead we’re here to enjoy what we get.
Berlanga is a Nuyorican icon. The 27-year old undefeated boxer’s record includes 17 knockouts in 22 contests and he’s one of the brighter lights in the current crop of Puerto Rican boxing’s heritage. In one of the most obvious statements you’ll read all year, this is easily his toughest test, and we’re going to either have a massive upset — the likes of which would rival Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas — or yet another jewel in the crown of boxing’s royalty (Canelo).
We’re also treated to two more championship bouts on this night, starting with Caleb Plant taking on Trevor McCumby for the interim WBA Super Middleweight strap. While Plant is the known entity, having been in the spotlight against the likes of Anthony Dirrell, Benavidez, and, of course, Canelo himself), McCumby is the younger, undefeated boxer with 21 knockouts in 28 wins. Plant is a huge favorite, but I wouldn’t be shocked if McCumby has some moments.
Finally, in the co-main event of the evening, we’ve got Erislandy Lara taking on Danny Garcia for WBA’s Middleweight championship. Lara is a much smaller favorite than the other two mentioned, and several punters think that Garcia — despite a two-year layoff — might be the man to take the belt from the 41-year old Cuban-American.
It all happens tonight, starting at 8 p.m. ET on DAZN, Amazon PPV and PPV.com. Live coverage of the PPV show begins below at that time.
Canelo has knocked down all 3 of his last 3 opponents (Ryder, Jermell Charlo and Munguia) but doesn’t have a stoppage victory since he stopped Caleb Plant in November 2021.
Will Berlanga become KO victim #40 for Canelo? I think so.#boxing pic.twitter.com/1mfbmTgB4V
— Steve Boxman (@SteveBoxman) September 12, 2024
ALVAREZ VS. BERLANGA QUICK RESULTS:
168 lbs.: Canelo Alvarez def. Edgar Berlanga — Unanimous decision (118-109 x2, 117-110) — HIGHLIGHTS!
160 lbs.: Erislandy Lara def. Danny Garcia — TKO (Round 9, 3:00) — HIGHLIGHTS!
168 lbs.: Caleb Plant def. Trevor McCumby — TKO (Round 9, 2:59) — HIGHLIGHTS!
126 lbs.: Rolando Romero def. Manuel Jaimes — Unanimous decision (99-91 x3)
ALVAREZ VS. BERLANGA LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY:
Canelo Alvarez (c) vs. Edgar Berlanga for WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring Super Middleweight titles
Round 1: Canelo in brown, Berlanga in black. Berlanga jabbing a bit early, Alvarez throwing a bit more power. Nothing clean so for for Canelo, but he’s still thudding and getting reactions. Berlanga has outjabbed Canelo so far, but nothing else.
10-9 Canelo
Round 2: Body-head by Alvarez. Berlanga gets in a nice left on a combo. Berlanga protests a back of the head shot, but the ref says fight on. Nice left by Canelo, Berlanga tries to fire back with a clipping right. Canelo hits Berlanga’s back as he’s ducked down in a clinch and that’s a no-no. Body shot by Berlanga.
10-9 Canelo in a close round.
Round 3: They trade jabs. Canelo walks him back to the corner, but eats a couple jabs. Huge counter left plants Berlanga on his butt! Berlanga looks mad that he got caught, and isn’t on wobbly legs. There’s a great left hand by the champ. Another short shot, a shovel hook in tight. Berlanga with a nice left hand.
10-8 Canelo
— FIGHTZCENTER (@fightzCenter) September 15, 2024
Round 4: Trading jabs. Now Berlanga landing his jab up and down. Canelo lands the 2 in a 1-2. To the body. Edgar has really shown a nice left hand, but the right hasn’t landed for him and that’s why he’s losing.
10-9 Canelo
Round 5: There’s a right by Berlanga, answered by a sharp jab. They’re both ignoring the ref’s break command and this is getting chippy. Berlanga eats a body shot. He ducks out of a big right, but eats a short uppercut seconds later. Popping jab by Berlanga. Good left to the body by Canelo, Berlanga gets in a straight right and a jab.
10-9 Canelo
Round 6: Berlanga finally getting in some right hands as he makes it a bit of a brawl here. They’re toe-to-toe briefly and landing on each other. Berlanga with a big right hook, Canelo with a left to the ribs. One of the best moments of the fight for Berlanga, but Canelo keeps walking forward and being the big aggressor here. He’s landing more, but Berlanga is finally showing signs of life outside of an educated left.
10-9 Canelo
Round 7: Berlanga complains about a low blow, and the ref agrees. I think this is the most fouls I’ve seen out of Alvarez ever. They’re trading left hands here, mostly jabs, but each man is landing here. That has to favor Berlanga, however. Canelo’s been using both hands effectively. It looks like Canelo might be taking the round off, or perhaps trying to get Berlanga to open up and leave an opening. Berlanga with a huge slip and tumble near the bell.
10-9 Berlanga
Round 8: Nice hook by Canelo. Berlanga doing better now. Berlanga with a head butt that gets a ref warning. Canelo misses a shot, but continues the combo and pops two more in. Berlanga kinda standing on the ropes, not using a lot of footwork here. He finally gets off and does land a right.
10-9 Canelo
Round 9: Great 1-2 by Canelo, but Berlanga eats it. They step in close and throw to the body. A late blow by Canelo as the ref calls for a break. Berlanga’s left hand and chin has kept him in the fight. There’s a pair of rights from the Mexican. Canelo body-head, Berlanga gets one back.
10-9 Canelo
Round 10: Canelo controlling the pace well so far. He’s eaten plenty of left hands, but has rarely been threatened by any power. On the other hand, Berlanga has eaten plenty. Canelo’s uppercuts on the inside are landing here. Oh, nice combo by the champ. Berlanga answers. Right and an uppercut of his own. Berlanga catches Canelo napping and lands a big left as Alvarez was walking back to his corner before the bell.
10-9 Canelo
— Combat (@combat2747) September 15, 2024
Round 11: Crowd is very into it now. They’re trading. Berlanga pushes off with the head, and the ref barks at him again. Hard to write down everything that’s going on, because they’re content to stand 2 feet from each other and pop each other. Canelo getting in a bit more traffic, about 3:2 or 2:1 this round (and most rounds). Berlanga gets his arm tied up weirdly. They exchange as the bell rings.
10-9 Canelo
Round 12: Berlanga tells the crowd to get hyped and they boo him. Canelo does it and gets a roar, much to the chagrin of Berlanga. Canelo with a left upstairs and one to the body. Berlanga fights back. Halfway left in the round. Right by Berlanga as his corner is yelling at him to throw more. Canelo with a straight right. Berlanga eats a pair. They’re slugging it out at the end.
10-9 Canelo in a close round
Final result: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeats Edgar Berlanga
Erislandy Lara (c) vs. Danny Garcia for WBA Middleweight title
Round 1: Garcia in green and blue, Lara in black and white. Lara with the first strike, a nice jab to the ear. Slow paced round so far. Lara using his jab periodically, not much else. Garcia can’t seem to get any range yet.
10-9 Lara
Round 2: Boy, there’s not much to write here. Garcia wants to counterpunch, but he can’t get past the jab, and honestly, he’s not really trying. His footwork is minimal, and he isn’t coming forward. 2-1 by Lara gets in a bit, Garcia pivots away.
10-9 Lara
Round 3: I said in my predictions this might be a stinker of a fight, and I’m looking a little smart so far. Lara following his jab, lunges in. Bleah.
10-9 Lara
Round 4: Lara in cruise control so far, because Garcia isn’t able (and hardly trying), to get about 7 inches closer. Lara has no need to do anything more, so he’s just not going to take any risks and pop away.
10-9 Lara
Round 5: This is the first round I can give Garcia something – a solid punch to the breadbasket. Lara landing his jab almost whenever he wants, but it seems he only wants it about every 20 seconds.
10-9 Lara
Round 6: Nothingburger again. The one former boxer in the booth is yelling that if he wants to win, he needs to use footwork aggressively, and that’s one big thing that Garcia has shown he doesn’t have.
10-9 Lara
Round 7: This is a sparring session so far. 40–20 on the punch stats so far and we’re six and a half rounds in.
10-9 Lara
Round 8: Holy smokes, Garcia lands a right hand and eats a check hook for his troubles. Lara also pivots away from the oncoming Garcia. Still the first good action in about 20 minutes of boxing. Hey, there’s a right to the body, too. Another and Lara responds with a right hand upstairs. There’s a good straight from Lara.
10-9 Garcia
Round 9: Lara 1-1-2. Garcia’s been on the back foot this whole round and that’s the tired recipe for a slow loss he did the first seven rounds. Lara just snapping jabs and not taking any risks. Oh hello, Garcia was sweeping to his left, tried to dance right, but it was directly into a left hand that sits down Garcia. Garcia stands up, but the ref comes over between rounds and between him, his dad in his corner and the ref, they come to the agreement that this bout is over.
10-8 Lara, but irrelevant
Final result: Erislandy Lara defeats Danny Garcia
Caleb Plant vs. Trevor McCumby for the interim WBA Super Middleweight title
Round 1: McCumby in black, Plant in green. Plant’s slight movement is making most of McCumby’s punches fall just short early. Plant has found his range, however. He’s not firing heavy, but he’s touching McCumby. There’s a good hook for the former IBF champ.
10-9 Plant
Round 2: Props to the commentary booth for a little trash talking on the WBA having an interim title bout as well as the undisputed in the same weight class on the same night. Plant slips a little as McCumby comes forward, but I don’t know if he took any damage. There’s a right by McCumby that lands pretty clean. A good left hook and that might have hurt Plant. Ruled a slip, but I think that was a knockdown.
10-9 McCumby
Round 3: McCumby with a right and another slip by Plant. This is not going well for Caleb. Solid jab lands for Plant, McCumby replies with a left. McCumby plays to the crowd, eats a clean jab for his troubles. And a left. One to the body and another to the chin.
10-9 Plant
Round 4: McCumby gets in a good left after eating a couple jabs. Oh there’s a nice body-left and a right to the head. HUGE LEFT to the body sends Plant to the ropes! They both exchange rights. Plant to the guts. McCumby left.
10-8 McCumby
Round 5: Looks like McCumby stepped on Plant’s foot as that punch landed, but he didn’t get that knockdown in 2. Big left by McCumby. Plant comes back with a big combo. Plant is having success now by backing McCumby to the ropes and not letting McCumby fire off big hooks. McCumby’s feet are stationary. Uppercut by Plant, McCumby fires back with a right-left.
10-9 Plant
Round 6: Plant has realized that McCumby is winning with big power punches, so his best option is to smother him. Plant eating some shots, but landing more when he gets McCumby to the ropes. There’s a left directly to McCumby’s mouth. Plant showboating a bit now, too. They’re having a phone booth fight, and Plant has started to wear down McCumby. McCumby gets out of the corner, but eats about 5 shots and a hip wiggle to boot.
10-9 Plant
Round 7: McCumby swings a 1-2, gets countered. Plant now fighting in the middle of the ring rather than trying to bulldoze McCumby. Moderately even so far this round, although Plant has landed cleaner. Counter 2-1 by Plant. Plant gets McCumby to the ropes, but doesn’t capitalize. Now he does with a left. Ref butts in, and I’m not sure why. Plant with a big combo, eats a left after the end of said combo. There’s a right by McCumby, too.
10-9 Plant
Round 8: They get toe-to-toe and Plant gets in some nice short shots. They show some punch stats, and Plant has landed 60% of his power punches so far. McCumby finally showing a little footwork when backed up to the ropes and spins away. Right by McCumby, left by Plant.
10-9 Plant
Round 9: Plant working the body and he gets two good lefts in. McCumby looks a bit hurt, eats some big short shots, some uppercuts in tight. Plant taking over and keeping McCumby at the ropes and in the corner. Plant looking every bit the superior fighter these past four or so rounds. Plant really smashing away as this round is close to over. Wait, the ref stopped it at the bell? Did McCumby go down? Guess it doesn’t matter anymore.
Final result: Caleb Plant defeats Trevor McCumby — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
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