After watching the September 14 Canelo Alvarez–Edgar Berlanga card, would there still be doubts over the Mexican superstar’s crowd-pulling powers? He faced a tough challenge from Dana White-Riyadh Season’s ‘Noche UFC’. Then criticism over taking on a supposedly easier challenge like Berlanga persisted. All these issues converged—had there been a lesser fighter, then most probably they might have succumbed under the pressure. But no, sir, we’re talking about one of the faces of boxing.
Per available sources, the show at T-Mobile Arena, offering an array of thrilling undercards, proved a resounding success. Thus, any residual doubts over Canelo Alvarez’s charismatic draw ought to have concluded. A few still believe the numbers don’t support the facts. Given the bitter past he shared with Alvarez that nearly escalated during a recent interaction, it’s easy to assume Oscar De La Hoya may not agree with reports suggesting an Alvarez event making a sweeping breakthrough. The former world champion used the latest episode of his Clap-Back Thursday to share his views on the PBC-Amazon Prime card.
Oscar De La Hoya: Still a long way to go
Talking about the Alvarez-Berlanga fight, De La Hoya said, “As I predicted, T-Mobile Arena did not sell out; in fact, an entire section of the arena was curtained off. I know people who attended the fight and confirmed these facts for me.”
Now, for many fans, it might appear a surprise take. With over twenty thousand present at the arena, the Alvarez-Berlanga show reportedly pulled off $17 million from just the gate. Then one has to reconcile with the claims of 650,000 PPV buyouts as well. That too when the price of the pay-per-view was set at $89.99 per unit. With Mexican Independence Day approaching, the fight hyped the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry. Thus, fans from both ends of the spectrum could assemble and cheer their icons.
Check out what Steve Kim and Rick Glaser stated in their latest tweets. In this era, with all the prevalent challenges, including the ‘PPV piracy’, even securing a ballpark figure of 500,000 should be considered a reasonable success.
Ahead of the fight, a PBC consultant, Bruce Binkow, said, “Canelo has always been a big ticket seller; he has a loyal, dedicated fan base, and they always buy tickets fast, and we’re seeing that on this one as well. We didn’t drop the ticket prices down.”
A mostly uneventful encounter
As he had earlier felt, it definitely turned out to be yet another fight that went the whole distance. A fight that lacked adrenaline-filled moments. Oscar De La Hoya opined that Edgar Berlanga appeared lost through the fight and gave away literally every single round. The whole scenario disappointed De La Hoya, especially watching boxers nowadays being lauded for just lasting the 12 rounds.
‘The Golden Boy’ highlighted how Canelo Alvarez hasn’t knocked down any opponent since the 2021 Caleb Plant fight. He recalled, “I’m from a different time in this sport when fighters went to war in the ring; we wanted to destroy our opponents… I wanted to be a legend. It’s a different mentality.”
In his opinion, the only thing that entices Alvarez is the moolah. Perhaps that’s why he avoids David Benavidez or Dmitry Bivol. The super middleweight champion appears to be looking forward to a comfortable retirement.
Earlier, speaking about the ‘Noche UFC’, De La Hoya credited His Excellency Turki Alalshikh for realizing an outstanding show. He said, “Congratulations to Turki for footing the bill on this and making his celebration of the Mexican culture come to life.”