Pound-for-pound rankings: Canelo stays put, but Inoue gains ground

Canelo Alvarez‘s unanimous decision victory over Edgar Berlanga — his eighth defense of at least one super middleweight title — solidified his spot atop the 168-pound division but didn’t earn him many extra votes to move up in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings. It was Alvarez’s sixth fight in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend, and his fourth at T-Mobile Arena.

Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico, dominated Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs), and scored a knockdown in the third round with a thunderous left hook to the head. But Alvarez failed to score his first KO victory since November 2021 — when he stopped Caleb Plant in the 11th round — against a heavy underdog in Berlanga.

“I did good. Now what are they gonna say?” Alvarez said after the fight. “They said I don’t fight young fighters. They always talk, but I’m the best fighter in the world.

“My experience and my talent was the difference. It’s about hard work and intelligence. It’s everything together. If you have talent, you need discipline as well.”