Mike Coppinger reports undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez is “in the process of finalizing a deal” to face Edgar Berlanga at the DAZN/Prime PPV on September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

He said the event would go head-to-head with UFC 306 at the Sphere, just three miles away.

Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO) is coming off a one-sided win over Jaime Munguia, after which he defeated the juvenile contender in the fourth round and gradually outclassed him. The IBF has ordered a mandatory title defense against William Scull, who has apparently agreed to waive the contract that clears the way for it.

Moments after longtime interim champion David Morrell Jr moved up to lightweight heavyweight after years of the WBA refusing to order title consolidation, the sanctioning body named Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO) as Alvarez’s mandatory challenger. “The Chosen One,” who ended a five-fight knockout drought last February by stopping Padraig McCrory in six, has no appeal beyond the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry, which organizers will run into the ground, as we can expect. His powers have been shown to be fictitious, his foundation remains shaky, and he has shown a tendency to cheat his ass when things don’t go his way.

And not even in the charming way that, say, he tricked Sakio Bik.

I don’t see the need for poetry here. It’s just a bad fight, probably Canelo’s worst fight since Avni Yildirim in 2021. The UFC 306 lineup may be painfully average so far, but I wouldn’t expect substantial PPV numbers from Canelo this time around.

Turki Alalshikh continues to make his mark in boxing with his season in Riyad, officially signing partnerships with both Top Rank and Golden Boy.

Alakshikh made both announcements on social media today, indicating that these moves are aimed at continuing the promotion of world-class boxing events taking place around the world.

At the top level, Riyadh Season will sponsor 12 events by the end of the year and into 2025.

As for Golden Boy, the press release was a little less specific regarding the number of events they will be sponsoring, but did mention that this will kick off with the upcoming Serheii Bohachuk vs Vergil Ortiz fight on August 8. 10.

Interestingly, Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya recently said that the Saudis have not approached him about any potential buyout – and to be clear, this is not a buyout situation – but it shows their growing commitment to working with major players boxing.

As Terence Crawford prepares to move up in weight to challenge Israil Madrimov, he spends some time talking to the boxing media about his thoughts on this fight, what comes next and why he’s telling Shakur Stevenson to block the negative criticism. Below you can read some fragments of his speech.

Crawford on Madrimov’s style, which he will want to neutralize

“Just everything about him. He is a decorated amateur with extensive experience in the amateur field. He may only have 11 fights, but he has 11 fights and he’s the world champion for a reason, so I have to respect everything about him, just like I have to respect everything about every other opponent I fight in the ring with, because everyone brings something different to the table. “

During his last sparring session with Andre Ward

“It was awesome. I appreciate Dre for even giving me the opportunity to get in the ring with him. I can say that I sparred with Andre Ward, it’s great. So it was a good sparring, it was a very good experience for me, I will take it to my grave.

On whether he expects the fight against Madrimov to be technically challenging

“It could be. Like I’ve said in the past, every fight can be my hardest fight. I don’t know until I get in the ring. Israil is definitely a tough opponent, we don’t take him lightly, we have never cut corners in this fight and we’ll see.”

On the recent criticism of Shakur Stevenson’s latest performance

“Well, Shakur is one of the best boxers in the game, if not the best boxer, then a pure boxer. So I just tell Shakur, keep doing what you’ve been doing, don’t worry about the negative attention you get, don’t worry about the reaction you get for beating the guy convincingly. Not everyone is a knockout puncher, not everyone will go in there and knock out all their opponents. As long as you’re winning in a fashion where there’s no question who the winner is, you’re doing something right.”