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Canelo Alvarez Routs Edgar Berlanga By Unanimous Decision to Retain Unified Super Middleweight Championship

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Canelo Alvarez is keeping his unified champion title…

The 34-year-old Mexican professional boxer, the sport’s top star, has retained his unified super middleweight championship after a unanimous decision victory over Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Canelo AlvarezAlvarez floored Berlanga with a monstrous left hook — his money punch — in Round 3 and prevailed via scores of 117-110, 118-109 and 118-109. ESPN scored it a 120-107 shutout.

This was the fifth consecutive decision victory for Alvarez, who hasn’t scored a knockout win since he defeated Caleb Plant in November 2021. It’s also the fourth consecutive bout where Alvarez scored a knockdown.

“Now what are they gonna say?” Alvarez said during his postfight interview. “I fight younger fighters. They say I fight older fighters. They always talk. … My experience, my talent, my hard work, my intelligence, everything together [makes me the best]. If you have talent but you don’t have discipline, you have nothing.”

Alvarez, ESPN‘s No. 5 pound-for-pound boxer, is an all-time great. Berlanga, meanwhile, was fighting on the world-class level for the first time. Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) was a -1600 favorite, per ESPN BET, and a -250 favorite to earn the win inside the distance.

However, Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) rarely threw a power punch, clearly wary of presenting a counter-punching opportunity for one of the sport’s best at capitalizing on such openings. Following the knockdown, as Berlanga sat on the canvas and banged his gloves together, he entered survival mode.

Alvarez pressed forward and tried to close distance as Berlanga pumped his jab from out of range. While Berlanga was rugged on the inside and showed some toughness, he clearly wasn’t willing to sell out and risk becoming a knockout victim.

“I’m upset,” Berlanga said. “I fought a legend tonight. Hopefully this is the start today of me becoming a future legend. … I took his best shot, I believe, in the third round.”

The Brooklynite of Puerto Rican heritage began his career with 16 first-round knockouts, but as he stepped up in competition, his power dissipated.

Berlanga, 27, entered his first title shot on the heels of a sixth-round knockout victory over Padraig McCrory in February.

Alvarez, naturally, is several levels above such an opponent, and his wealth of experience showed. He was the far more comfortable fighter, though he was frustrated on occasion by Berlanga’s roughhouse tactics, as referee Harvey Dock warned the pair numerous times.

“Fighters like to throw each other off their games,” Berlanga said.

Alvarez was once again headlining on Mexican Independence Day weekend, one of two boxing holidays reserved for the sport’s top attraction. He wasn’t ready to discuss whom he wants to face when he eventually returns on Cinco De Mayo weekend.

In the lead-up to the bout, Alvarez told ESPN on Wednesday that he was interested in a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, who defeated him in May 2022 at 175 pounds. That’s provided that Bivol beats Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed light heavyweight championship Oct. 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Another option was ringside: Terence Crawford, the future Hall of Famer who remains undefeated. He made his 154-pound debut last month with a win over Israil Madrimov and told ESPN on Thursday that he would like to fight Alvarez at the full-fledged 168-pound limit with no rehydration clause.

“I think it would tell the No. 1 guy of this era in the post-Mayweather era, who’s the king of kings,” Crawford said.

Whomever Alvarez fights next, he will still be in search of his first knockout victory since November 2021, though he hasn’t lost many rounds in the process.

Alvarez said: “I’m the best fighter in the world.”

Teofimo Lopez Earns Unanimous Decision Win Over Steve Claggett to Retain WBO Junior Welterweight Title

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Teofimo Lopez has retained his title…

The 26-year-old Honduran American boxer defeated Steve Claggett by unanimous decision to retain his WBO junior welterweight title on Saturday at the downtown James L. Knight Center.

Teofimo LopezLopez — a -1200 favorite, per ESPN BET — shut out Claggett on two cards with scores of 120-108 and won 119-109 on the third.

Canada’s Claggett (38-8-2, 26 KOs) was fighting in a 12-round fight for the first time.

Lopez, ESPN‘s No. 10 pound-for-pound boxer, easily defeated Claggett, outlanding him 315-60, but he surprisingly never came close to scoring a knockdown, much less a knockout, against a boxer fighting on the world-class level for the first time.

Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) showed tremendous power at 135 pounds, where he reigned as undisputed champion, but in five fights at 140, he has scored just one KO. That came in August 2022 against journeyman Pedro Campa.

“I knew exactly what kind of fighter this guy was. … He’s going to come forward and test my conditioning. And that’s what we had today,” Lopez said. “He’s a tough fighter. I don’t think anyone should overlook him. I knew that coming into this. … He handled himself.”

Teofimo Lopez Lopez, who grew up in South Florida, seemed to acknowledge his lack of power afterward. He said it was a tough weight cut “and although it doesn’t look like I can handle my own at 147, I believe I can.”

Lopez, with his back to the ropes, was able to fend off the hard-charging Claggett. Yet it was clear what caliber of fighter Claggett was. Someone far below the top level, a fighter with shoddy footwork who simply plowed forward and let his hands go.

Claggett’s fighting heart can’t be questioned, and he can be proud that he went the distance. He was able to bust up Lopez over both eyes, too, and touch him up far more often than expected.

Perhaps Lopez took Claggett, 35, lightly. Lopez, after all, was on the wrong end of ESPN‘s 2021 Upset of the Year when he was defeated by George Kambosos.

Lopez also barely defeated Sandor Martin, a quality fighter, in his second bout at 140 pounds. Lopez rebounded, however, with a dominant performance against Josh Taylor last summer to win the lineal championship.

But in February, Lopez was booed as he struggled to cut off the ring against Jamaine Ortiz, a contender who didn’t engage.

In choosing Claggett — promoter Top Rank also offered fights with Kenny Sims, Elvis Rodriguez and Ray Muratalla — Lopez chose the easiest option. He also chose the fighter who was guaranteed to come forward, ostensibly to produce a knockout. It never materialized despite all the clean counter punches Lopez landed.

Lopez uncorked right uppercuts and left hooks that connected flush. He stunned Claggett in Round 8 and poured on more punishment in Round 9, but Claggett showed his fighting heart — and chin — by continuing to push forward.

Lopez unleashed a staggering 946 shots and 100 in Round 4, both career highs. Claggett, known for his volume punching, threw 820 punches.

Lopez told ESPN earlier this month that he planned to return in September. It’s possible that will mark his welterweight debut.

“We don’t dodge nobody,” Lopez said. “I just want the best and I want to fight the best so I can collect more legacy. That’s what it’s all about. The glory. … Teofimo’s still here.”

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez Knocks Out Juan Francisco Estrada to Win WBC Junior Bantamweight Title

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Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has a new belt..

The 24-year-old Mexican American professional boxer knocked out Juan Francisco Estrada in the seventh round to win the WBC junior bantamweight title on at the Footprint Center in Phoenix in a candidate for fight of the year.

Jesse "Bam" RodriguezRodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs), who entered the fight as a -550 favorite, per ESPN BET, had Estrada in trouble in Round 3 after landing a right uppercut.

Estrada recovered well in the third, but in Round 4, Rodriguez knocked him down with a perfectly thrown left uppercut, straight left combination.

Rodriguez kept landing his punches in the next round, all set up by his lead jab.

Another straight left pushed Estrada to the ropes, and the uppercut and left hand kept landing flush. Rodriguez’s speed and power were superior to Estrada’s.

Though Rodriguez appeared to be in total control, Estrada, 34, dropped him in the sixth round with a straight right hand set up by two lead jabs. Rodriguez recovered well and continued landing his left hand and right uppercut.

With just seconds to go in Round 7, Rodriguez landed a left hook to the body that sent Estrada to the canvas. Estrada was visibly in pain and couldn’t recover in time.

“I got him with a good body shot,” Rodriguez said during the postfight interview. “I saw the way he was rolling on the floor. I knew that was it.

“I thought he was going to get back up, so I was already mentally prepared to go on to the next round, but I mean he stayed down and that was it.”

At the time of the stoppage, Estrada was ahead 57-56 on one of the scorecards, while Rodriguez was up 58-54 on another and the third judge had the fight even.

This was Rodriguez’s first victory of 2024 and the second time he won the WBC belt at 115 pounds. Estrada fought for the first time since his trilogy fight against future Hall of Famer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in December 2022, a career-long 18-month layoff.

Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs) was riding an eight-fight winning streak. The last time he lost a fight before Saturday was more than six years ago, a majority decision to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in February 2018 that he avenged one year later.

Estrada could have one more big fight in him. The future Hall of Famer has a rematch clause and said after the fight that he was going to exercise that option.

“I know the mistakes that I made in there and I want the rematch,” Estrada said. “So we’ll take that rematch and there’s no doubt we’ll win that rematch.”

Rodriguez is knocking at the door of the pound-for-pound top 10 list. He said after the fight he plans to stay at junior bantamweight and try to unify the titles against the winner of the unification fight between Fernando Martinez and Kazuto Ioka on July 7 in Japan.