Will Canelo defend all his super middleweight belts against Berlanga in September?
The Mexican fighter chose the Brooklyn native as his next opponent after weeks of rumors about a potential fight with Chris Eubank Jr.
Saul Alvarez has finally decided who he will fight next. The chosen one is Edgar Berlanga, the young and undefeated boxing rising star who will try to record the biggest win of his professional career when both men meet inside the ring in September.
Although it seemed that the Guadalajara native would end up fighting Chris Eubank Jr., negotiations between both sides did not translate into an agreement, and Canelo’s plan B became a reality.
The possibility of fighting David Benavidez was never taken into consideration by Canelo’s team, as The Mexican Monster is now focused on the light heavyweight division and the super middleweight king is not interested in taking on him unless a huge amount of money is offered to make the fight happen.
Canelo vs Berlanga: all the belts on the line?
While Canelo possesses all the belts in the 168 lbs division, he won’t defend all the marbles in the fight against Berlanga. Only the WBA, WBC, and WBO titles will be at stake at T-Mobile Arena, in Vegas.
Boxing journalist Michael Benson said on X that the official statement of the fight between Canelo and Berlanga only speaks about the WBA, WBO, and WBC titles, while the IBF championship would be vacant or not available to defend on fight night.
“Canelo Alvarez has seemingly been stripped of/vacated his IBF super-middleweight world title as he is not fighting IBF mandatory William Scull next. Official press release states Canelo vs Edgar Berlanga on Sept 14th only for WBA, WBC & WBO”, Benson revealed.
Alvarez never answered about facing the IBF’s mandatory challenger, William Scull, so the organization would have decided to strip the Mexican of this 168-pound championship.
Canelo also decided not to face the WBC’s mandatory challenger, David Benavidez, not at least this year. However, Mauricio Sulaimán decided not to strip the champion of the title, saying the Mexican had the right to choose who to face.