Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the biggest boxing star of his generation, returned to the ring on Saturday night. Alvarez will defend his three super middleweight world championships against Edgar Berlanga in the pay-per-view main event.
Berlanga made a name for himself as a knockout artist. As a man of Puerto Rican descent, this comes with a built-in rivalry with Mexico. The Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry has deeper roots in boxing and made a better selling point for why Alvarez fought than boxing fans have been claiming.
There are also recognizable names up and down the card, including many past or present champions.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the biggest storylines as Alvarez vs. Berlanga approaches.
Can Berlanga crack Alvarez’s chin?
Berlanga attracted a lot of attention when he scored 16 first-round knockouts to start his professional career. That seemingly overwhelming power quickly disappeared with five consecutive decision victories. Berlanga scored his first stoppage since 2020 with a sixth-round TKO of Padraig McCrory this past February.
Logic suggests the only way for Berlanger to win is to knock out Alvarez. He’s not as good a boxer as the champion, nor does he have big-stage experience against elite opponents. Berlanga has power, though not as much as his incredible career-start suggested, and is undoubtedly the biggest guy going into the fight. That said, Alvarez has never been knocked out, let alone stopped, and he’s been up against plenty of strong opponents. Berlanga says he’s ready but needs to be better than ever and do something the future Hall of Famer hasn’t been able to do.
When will Father Time catch up to Canelo?
It feels good D Storyline every time Alvarez steps into the ring, but fighters have to grow old at some point. Either you walk away from boxing while still a dominant champion or you stay too long and age suddenly shows in the ring. At 34, Alvarez is still a young man by all normal measures. But a 34-year-old with 65 professional fights, most of them at the championship level, has a lot of miles on his body.
There was a recent stretch of fights where Alvarez looked a little slow, especially in his defensive reactions. But he quieted some of the chatter by dominating Jermell Charlo and then outgunning Jamie Munguia in one of his most recent two outings. The odds say this is Alvarez’s fight to lose. If Alvarez loses, it will be due to a combination of age and Berlanga’s ability.
Will Alvarez finally win against Benavidez?
Alvarez has already cemented himself as a legend in the boxing ring, but if he never gets in the ring with David Benavidez it will be a stain on his legacy. Benvidez held the WBC super middleweight title twice, losing it once to a failed drug test for cocaine, and once to missing weight. These missteps are entirely on Benavidez and played a major role in his inability to get Alvarez in the ring. Still, Benavidez is clearly the top contender for Alvarez’s throne and the fight between the two is what most boxing fans want to see.
Benavidez has spent years as Alvarez’s mandatory rival but Alvarez has shrugged off that notion while repeatedly downplaying Benavidez as an opponent. This eventually led Benavidez to move up to light heavyweight where he won an inspiring decision over Oleksandr Govozdik for the WBC interim belt. Benavidez has said repeatedly that he will return to 168 pounds for a crack at Alvarez, and if Alvarez continues his strategy of refusing to even consider fighting Benavidez unless he pays a quarter of a billion dollars, it will be something that is always tied up. his legacy.
Storyline from the undercard
The undercard features several exciting fights and familiar names. Let’s take a quick look at what to know with some of the biggest of those fights.
- Erislandy Lara vs Danny Garcia: This is the only other world title fight on the card, with Lara putting his WBA middleweight belt on the line. Garcia has fought only once since 2020, a majority decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. in July 2022. It doesn’t exactly scream title contender, but Garcia has more names than otherwise in the middleweight division. At 41 years old, Lara should be reaching the end of his run at the championship level, and he may already be if he doesn’t fight at middleweight, but he sits as a -245 favorite.
- Caleb Plant vs. Trevor McCumbie: Plant is a heavy favorite at 1800 and this is a bounce-back matchmaking when Plant lost a competitive bout to Benvidez in March 2023. The real story is Plant trying to force a match with Alvarez, who defeated him by TKO in 2021. With a WBA interim title on the line against McCumbie, a win would technically put Plant in line as a mandatory challenger for Alvarez. While there may not be much demand for a rematch, if Alvarez doesn’t fight Benavidez, Plant is one of the bigger names available to Canelo.
- Rolando Romero vs Manuel James: Another bit of bounce-back matchmaking, this time for Romero, who dropped the WBA junior welterweight title to Isaac Cruz in his most recent outing. Heading into the Cruise fight, Romero was seen as the weakest world champion in boxing because he lacked some technical skill. It shines when you look at the fight odds, where Romero is only a -240 favorite in a place where most “name” fighters would be over -1000. A loss here would end Romero’s time as a marketable fighter who can use his personality to sell tickets.
- Stephen Fulton vs Carlos Castro: Fulton is another recognizable name looking to get back into the win column. Prior to his July 2023 fight with Nawa Inoue, Fulton held the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles and was a name at the bottom of many pound-for-pound lists. Fulton, like almost everyone before him, was overwhelmed by Inoue, who quickly went on to consolidate four titles in the weight class. Fulton wants to get back into contention, and he’s good enough to do so. It starts with a decent fight with Castro. Fulton also expressed frustration at not airing the main pay-per-view, which is a valid complaint considering Alvarez may be the second best fighter on the entire card.
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