8.05 p.m. / 4.05 a.m. UK
ANTICIPATION MOUNTS FOR CANELO’S RINGWALK!
7.55 p.m. / 3.55 a.m. UK
THE BIG ONE
Just one fight left now on this card, and it’s the big one — the main event. It’s always big fight feels when Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez rolls into town, and there’s been so much buzz through the fight week, felt amongst fans, and within the MGM Grand, and the media room. I’ll tell you, there might be something to be said about WWE-style squash matches. Maybe that’s what Canelo’s fans are after. He’s not knocked anyone out since he almost broke Caleb Plant in 2021. If he can’t dismiss Edgar Berlanga, then it surely says something about where Canelo is right now at this stage of his career.
7.45 p.m. / 3.45 a.m. UK
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Just as we create a stink about one of the dullest fights in front us, Erislandy Lara scores a knockdown, dropping Danny Garcia in the ninth. Garcia gets to his feet, and, though the round ends, ANGEL GARCIA STOPS THE FIGHT! Danny Garcia’s father and trainer calls it off. It’s all over! Thank God!
7.30 p.m. / 3.30 a.m. UK
HE WHO LAUGHS LAST
If any of us were laughing at the early reports UFC’s Noche show at The Sphere may be a letdown, the tables have now turned. The pay-per-view part of the card has kicked in at UFC, rendering some next-level and futuristic stuff on display screens that are three times the size of football fields. Meanwhile, Lara vs Garcia is the kind of fight that sends people to sleep.
7.20 p.m. / 3.20 a.m. UK
OKAY, THIS SUCKS
We’re only a few rounds in but this is already a terrible co-main.
7.05 p.m. / 3.05 a.m. UK
ERISLANDY LARA vs DANNY GARCIA UP NEXT!
Two guys who have led Hall-of-Fame worthy careers, meeting at a weight that’s traditionally been higher than where they sealed their greatest wins. We’ll see what these two Premier Boxing Champions stalwarts have at middleweight.
6.55 p.m. / 2.55 a.m. UK
PLANT CREDITS MCCUMBY
“It was a pretty tough fight,” said Plant, after the win. “I proved that I can fight on the inside tonight and I did what I had to do to get that WBA [interim world super middleweight] belt.”
6.45 p.m. / 2.45 a.m. UK
AND THERE IT IS!
Plant gets the win! He got up from the deck earlier in the fight to finish McCumby in the ninth round to show, once again, that he has that dawg in him! Plant fought on the inside, and landed what seemed like a billion uppercuts, in another strong win that advances his pro record to 23 wins (14 KOs) against two defeats.
6.40 p.m. / 2.40 a.m. UK
PLANT TURNS THE TIDE
A lot of traffic went against Plant in the first four rounds, but he seems to be in his stride now, throwing far more punches of substance than McCumby, and threatening to close the show.
6.35 p.m. / 2.35 a.m. UK
THIS FIGHT IS BADASS
Caleb Plant is communicating with the crowd like a wild man!
6.30 p.m. / 2.30 a.m. UK
CANELO RAISES THE ROOF
Though there’s been star power through the card, nobody lifts this crowd quite like the headliner, Canelo Alvarez. He’s displayed on the big screens at the T-Mobile Arena and the fans here, who have been steadily entering the building, went ballistic.
6.25 p.m. / 2.25 a.m. UK
DOWN GOES PLANT!
In a shock moment considering the odds, Trevor McCumby drops Caleb Plant! Can he finish the job in the fourth?! This would be one of the biggest upsets of the year!!
6.15 p.m. / 2.15 a.m. UK
TREVOR MCCUMBY STICKS IT ON CALEB PLANT
This was one of the fights that appeared to be a mismatch on paper, but McCumby is showing early on that he’s coming to prove the critics wrong, landing a left hook in the second round that put Plant on wobbly legs.
6.05 p.m. / 2.05 a.m. UK
INITIAL REPORTS SAY UFC NOCHE IS TRASH
The night is still young but early social media sentiment from MMA media watching the UFC Noche card via television indicates that the $20 million+ Dana White spent on custom graphics for the extraordinary $2.3 billion venue The Sphere may not be doing the venue justice. One half of Morning Kombat, Luke Thomas, said: “This is deeply underwhelming thus far.”
6.05 p.m. / 2.05 a.m. UK
IT WAS “A TOUGH 10 ROUNDS” FOR ROMERO
“I needed a tough 10-round fight against someone hungry and that’s what I got tonight,” Romero said after his win. “I was doing a lot of stuff tonight that I should have done in my earlier fights. Jaimes was coming forward a lot, but I was controlling the pace. The fight was going how I wanted it to. In the later rounds I started coming forward more and landing more body shots.
“Hopefully I’m fighting for a title next. I have my eye on any of the champions.”
6.00 p.m. / 3.00 a.m. UK
ROMERO PICKS UP THE ROUNDS
As the fight wore on, Romero did just enough to claim round after round, out-landing Jaimes in an okay performance at best, meh at worst.
5.55 p.m. / 1.55 a.m.
ROMERO vs JAIMES STARTS SLOW
With only five punches landed, combined, in the very first round, the Rolando Romero vs Manuel Jaimes fight was a slow-starter. It wasn’t until the fifth, when someone finally landed double digits, with 12.
5.35 p.m. / 1.35 a.m. UK
ROLANO ROMERO INADVERTENTLY AUDITIONS FOR UFC
With a rival event taking place a few miles further north from the Las Vegas strip
5.30 p.m. PT / 1.20 a.m. UK
ROLANO ROMERO INADVERTENTLY AUDITIONS FOR UFC
Not long into the Romero vs Jaimes fight, Rolly threw elbows like he was auditioning for the UFC Noche event at The Sphere, near the Venetian, around 3 miles from the T-Mobile Arena.
5.20 p.m. PT / 1.05 a.m. UK
ROLANDO ROMERO NEXT IN LINE HOPING FOR A REBOUND WIN
Like his PBC stablemate Stephen Fulton, lightweight fighter Rolando Romero is looking to rebound from a series of setbacks having lost to Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz in recent bouts. The defeat to Cruz was particularly nasty, though ‘Tank’ may have taken something from him, too. Now, we’ll see what, exactly, Romero has left.
4.55 p.m. PT / 12.55 a.m. UK
FULTON ACKNOWLEDGES THE NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT
“I could have let my hands go a little bit more,” said Fulton, appraising his performance in which he survived a knockdown to grind out a slim win.
“I didn’t want to box too much because I felt so good, but I could have boxed with my legs more. I have to get back in the gym, work on my movement and come back for the world title.”
Though it wasn’t a flawless return to the ring after his defeat to Naoya Inoue, the American boxer regardless advances his pro record to 22 wins (8 KOs) against one loss.
4.45 p.m. PT / 12.05 a.m. UK
FULTON EDGES THE WIN
Wow! The crowd are incensed! But I’m not sure why. The judges scored it too narrowly, and Fulton arguably should have deserved more, from the press seat we were at. A split decision win with scores of 96-93 and 95-94 were enough for Fulton to overturn the one judge who saw a 95-94 win for Castro.
“Shout out to the boos, too!” Fulton said, in defiance, collecting his rebound win.
4.30 p.m. PT / 12.30 a.m. UK
FULTON IS IN A FIGHT!
Though Fulton has won the majority of the rounds after the midway point, that knockdown Castro scored, together with the mighty left hooks he kept scoring, showed he could flip the script again at a moment’s notice.
4.25 p.m. PT / 12.20 a.m. UK
FULTON REBOUNDS
Fulton manages to shake off the cobwebs internally to box smart, and recover, as he seeks to pick up the rounds once more.
4.20 p.m. PT / 12.15 a.m. UK
CASTRO KNOCKS FULTON DOWN!!!
Shocking scenes early in this fight as Fulton has to pick himself up off the canvas after cruising to an early lead on the scorecards! A fifth-round stunner!
4.05 p.m. PT / 12.05 a.m. UK
STEPHEN FULTON MAKES HIS WALK
Boxing News has heard throughout the week disgruntlement from Stephen Fulton’s inner circle regarding his placement on this card. The American boxer returns to the ring for the first time since his grueling eighth-round knockout loss to Naoya Inoue in July, last year. And will hope to score a statement win, in style, to get back to main card — and main event — status.
3.55 p.m. PT / 11.55 p.m. UK
LOPEZ SCORES COMFORTABLE WIN
Lopez returns scores of 80-71 on all three judges’ cards to take home a well-deserved and routine win. If he is to continue tallying wins like this throughout his career
3.40 p.m. PT / 11.40 p.m. UK
MEDINA GOES DOWN!
Having battered Medina relentlessly through seven rounds, Lopez finally got his knockdown in the eighth, as he put a Hollywood comeback win out of his opponent’s sight, and closed the show.
3.25 p.m. PT / 11.25 p.m. UK
LOPEZ BOMBARDS MEDINA
After four of eight scheduled rounds, Lopez had landed 97 shots compared to Medina’s 46 — more than twice the output. His variety also stood out as he landed uppercuts, thumped him with straight shots, and attacked both his head and his body.
3.15 p.m. PT / 11.15 p.m. UK
LOPEZ TARGETS BODY
Lopez’s strategy was clearly body-work as he let power punches rip at Medina’s midsection throughout the fight. It was not long before both fighters appeared to suffer cuts. A possible war emerges.
3.10 p.m. PT / 11.10 p.m. UK
LOPEZ OUT-PUNCHES MEDINA
Geo Lopez began the fight dictating the pace with far greater punch activity than Ricky Medina, landing 26 from 57 in the opening round alone, compared to Medina’s 7 from 30.
3.03 p.m. PT / 11.03 p.m. UK
GEO LOPEZ vs RICKY MEDINA
Lopez and Medina fight a super featherweight bout over 8 x 3s.
3.00 p.m. PT / 11.00 p.m. UK
SOLIDARITY WITH KIERAN MULVANEY
Just exchanged American stories with fellow fight writer Kieran Mulvaney, who used to work at HBO and Showtime, and is a renowned Arctic explorer in his spare time. Both of us jumped out our seats when Ricky Medina’s walk-out music hit. Almost forgot where we were at.
2.35 p.m. PT / 10.35 p.m. UK
WHEN IN DOUBT, BINGE IT ALL
I got pork belly skewers with rice from the Mexican BBQ, smokehouse burger from Shake Shake, and Oreo milk shake. Bad day to be my belly.
2.30 p.m. PT / 10.30 p.m. UK
TIME TO EXCHANGE A FOOD COUPON
There’s Shake Shack, Mexican BBQ, and pizza at the concessions. What would you go for in my shoes, while I intend to stuff my face during this interlude?
2.25 p.m. PT / 10.25 p.m. UK
A 30+ MINUTE BREAK UNTIL THE TELEVISED PRELIMS
I’ve just been told the card will be on pause until 3 p.m., when the televised prelims begin. If they’re anything like the off-TV part of the card, then fans will be in for fireworks.
2.20 p.m. PT / 10.20 p.m. UK
ANOTHER KNOCKOUT WIN
After a sluggish start, Yoenli Feliciano Hernandez scored a brutal knockout win over Jose Sanchez Charles that saw the Mexican face-plant the canvas, and that stay there for an uncomfortable amount of time. Hernandez, the Cuban, advances his pro boxing record to a flawless 5 wins (5 KOs).
2.05 p.m. PT / 10.05 p.m. UK
RED SUN, HOT FIRES
When fight week first commenced earlier this week, my 5-year-old son ran back into our house from the backyard to say the 7 a.m. sun was red. I should never have doubted him because there it was — red, just like he said. There was also the unmistakeable smell of burnt wood in the air. More than a hundred miles away, wind had pushed wildfire smoke toward Las Vegas. I couldn’t help but think there was an omen there for a fire-fight, or two, on fight night.
1.55 p.m. PT / 9.55 p.m. UK
MIDDLEWEIGHTS SOON TAKE THE STAGE
Yoenli Feliciano Hernandez is up next for a middleweight fight against Jose Sanchez Charles. Cuban boxer Hernandez has decent power with four knockouts returned from four fights to date, yet takes on a much more experienced fighter in Charles, a 27-bout veteran from Mexico.
1.40 p.m. PT / 9.40 p.m. UK
EARLY FINISHES MEAN LATE BREAKS
With the show keeping to a schedule, the next fight might take a while to take place.
1.30 p.m. PT / 9.30 p.m. UK
TWO FIGHTS YIELD ROUND TWO KNOCKOUTS
Only two fights into the early prelims and we already have spectacular violence as Lawrence King scored a knockout over Vaughn Williams, and Ben Nurmaganbet finished Joshua Conley. Both King and Nurmaganbet won in the second round.
1.00 p.m. PT / 9.00 p.m. UK
HELLO AND WELCOME!
What’s good Boxing News family; this is Alan Dawson reporting live from sunny Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena. There’s a 10-fight boxing card about to take place inside the city’s most prominent venues, going head-to-head with a 10-bout UFC card a few miles north of the world famous strip. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was steadfast in keeping his date — Mexican Independence Day weekend, a fixture synonymous with boxing. One of the faces of the sport takes on Puerto Rican challenger Edgar Berlanga.
There’s firepower throughout the show with Erislandy Lara vs Danny Garcia, with Caleb Plant and Rolando Romero in separate fights, and Stephen Fulton on the prelims. And we’re bringing you all the key updates throughout the event. Let’s get it!
Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga Live Updates
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga go head to head for the WBA, WBC, and WBO World Super-Middleweight Titles at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga Running Order
12 x 3 mins WBA, WBC, WBO Super-Middleweight Titles
Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga
12 x 3 mins WBA World Middleweight Title
Erislandy Lara vs Danny Garcia
12 x 3 mins Super Middleweight contest
Caleb Plant vs Trevor McCumby
10 x 3 mins Featherweight contest
Stephen Fulton vs Carlos Castro
10 x 3 mins Super-Lightweight contest
Rolando Romero vs Manuel Jaimes
10 x 3 mins Welterweight contest
Roiman Villa vs Ricardo Salas Rodriguez
8 x 3 mins Super-Featherweight contest
Johnathan Lopez vs Richard Medina
8 x 3 mins Light Heavyweight contest
Lawrence King vs Vaughn Williams
8 x 3 mins Middleweight contest
Yoenli Hernandez vs Jose Sanchez Charles
6 x 3 mins Super-Middleweight contest
Bek Nurmaganbet vs Joshua Conley