Edgar Berlanga was put down for only the second time in his career when he suffered a unanimous points decision loss to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Berlanga entered the ring as a heavy underdog and the fight played out as most had predicted, with the Mexican super-middleweight champion dominating proceedings from the opening bell.
In the third round the 27-year-old was sent to the canvas for only the second time in his 23 fights when Canelo landed a perfectly timed left hook. Although Canelo threw everything at Berlanga ‘The Chosen One’ survived to hear the final bell.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Berlanga compared Canelo’s power to previous opponents and said the four-weight champion was ‘for sure’ the hardest hitter he had ever faced.
“I’ll say he hits the hardest for sure.
One of the fighters who hit very hard was [Roamer Alexis] Angulo, he’s a Cuban guy and he punched very hard to. I’d say both of them were like the same but with Canelo I was just mentally ready for his shots. I already told myself ‘I know I’m going to get hit, I know I’m going to get hit on my chin’, but I’ve got to bit down on my mouthpiece and push.
Look what happened in the third round I got hit with a left hook, we had been practicing in camp the whole time, keeping my right hand to my chin and I wound up for this move and he connected right on my chin.
It comes with boxing, the greats got dropped got hurt, but it’s about how you come back.”
As for Canelo, he was once again called out by Terence Crawford after the fight and the American’s big money backers in Saudi Arabia seem set to make the 168lb champion another offer.
