Canelo Alvarez officially announced his next fight on social networks Thursday. Alvarez will defend his super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Berlanga’s choice of Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) as his opponent has generated some controversy. David Benavidez is the WBC mandatory challenger and has been seeking a title shot with Alvarez for two years.
However, Alvarez outpointed Benavidez and WBA mandatory challenger David Morrell in favor of Jaime Munguia earlier this year and now Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs).
Alvarez, 34, defeated Munguia by unanimous decision after knocking him down in the fourth round on May 4. He has 39 career knockouts but has not won by that route since 2021.
Reportedly, if Berlanga had not been Alvarez’s next opponent, he would not have fought Benavidez. Alvarez would instead have fought Chris Eubank Jr., who would have moved up from middleweight to middleweight. According to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger.
Additionally, Alvarez’s fight with Berlanga is scheduled for the same date as UFC 306, which will take place at the Las Vegas Sphere. But Alvarez is adamant about keeping the Sept. 14 date to commemorate Mexican Independence weekend, which he mentioned in his social media announcement.
Berlanga, 27, started his professional boxing career in impressive fashion, winning his first 16 fights with first-round knockouts. His next five fights went the full 10 rounds, but he knocked out Padraig McCrory in the sixth round in his last fight.
Alvarez’s fight with Munguia generated just over 500,000 pay-per-view buys, According to Boxing SceneThe poor performance showed that fans are frustrated with Alvarez’s choice of opponent. However, Alvarez’s team believes his fans will support him, both at T-Mobile Arena and on pay-per-view, on Mexican Independence Day weekend. Berlanga, to his credit, is seen by some as a better opponent than Munguia and is ranked number one at 168 pounds by the WBA.
