Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s traditional date of fighting on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September is around the corner, but an opponent has not been announced yet for the undisputed super middleweight champion.
If Alvarez plans on fighting on Sept. 14, an opponent must be named soon for the event to be properly promoted. For Alvarez’s Mexican Independence Day weekend fight against Jermell Charlo last year, the fight was announced on June 30.
Should Alvarez fight in Las Vegas on Sept. 14, he would have to go head-to-head against UFC 306, which will take place at the Sphere.
UFC president and CEO Dana White is promising a blockbuster event that “is going to be a f***ing love letter to the Mexican people.” Many are now wondering if Conor McGregor’s return fight following his recent injury will be rescheduled to headline the Sphere on the date.
Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn has promoted six of Alvarez’s last nine fights, and he believes that Alvarez will next face Edgar Berlanga, the undefeated super middleweight contender he promotes.
“I think he’ll fight Berlanga next,” Hearn told BoxingScene on Saturday night in Phoenix following Jesse Rodriguez’s knockout win against Juan Francisco Estrada.
“When you look at the options … who else is there to fight? [Alvarez has] two mandatories, one is [IBF mandatory] William Scull, who I’d never heard of before in my life. With all due respect to him, I’m sure he’s a good fighter. And the other is [WBA mandatory] Edgar Berlanga, who is a Puerto Rican knockout artist. He’s fought on ESPN and DAZN. Everybody knows him, and it’s a competitive fight. So I think he’ll fight Berlanga next.
“Vegas, New York, or wherever. If there’s the Sphere fight, then maybe they’ll want to do it in New York. I like it, but Canelo is a creature of habit as well. He likes Vegas, but he also likes fighting in Texas.
“It’s really down to DAZN. They had the broadcast last time [when Alvarez fought Jaime Munguia]. We didn’t have to promote the fight. [DAZN] didn’t have to put the guarantee up. They got the broadcast and did extremely well. So they are quite happy doing that. Business is good for DAZN. They are doing amazing at the moment. Numbers are through the roof. We are in a really good position with the platform. You don’t want to be over-guaranteeing fighters, and that’s my opinion, for fights, and doing millions of dollars in the process on the guarantee. We’ve seen people do that before, and they left the business quickly.”
Berlanga said in May, days before Alvarez scored a unanimous decision against Munguia, that he expected to fight Alvarez in September.
“I’m 100 percent confident. I know it’s gonna happen,” Berlanga said at the time.
“I’m Puerto Rican, I’m a superstar, I got a big backing and big following. Yeah, I don’t got a title – I’m his [WBA] mandatory. But you gotta understand, the fan base I got is insane, and I know we’re gonna do amazing numbers on pay-per-view and it’s gonna be one for the history books. It’s Mexico versus Puerto Rico. It’s big, so we definitely gonna make some money.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.