Canelo Alvarez to clash with UFC 306 in Las Vegas Sept. 14

This week has been a whirlwind of a week for boxing kingpin Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (61–2–2, 39 KOs) on Thursday Alvarez was stripped of his IBF middleweight title. The decision comes after Alvarez declined to face his mandatory opponent, William Scull. Alvarez announced this week he will defend his super middleweight titles versus Edgar Berlanga on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

This decision came with much anger from the boxing community as the world preferred Alvarez to challenge his WBC mandatory David Benavidez. Benavidez has been looking for the shot for two years and Alvarez has been denying it for two years. If Berlanga wasn't Alvarez's next opponent, he still reportedly wouldn't have fought Benavidez. Alvarez instead would've fought Chris Eubank Jr., who would've moved up from middleweight, according to ESPN's Mike Coppinger. 

Alvarez is normally one of boxing’s biggest draws. Alvarez will really have to prove his drawing power with UFC 306 happening the same night at the Las Vegas Sphere. Alvarez is insistent on keeping the date of Sept. 14 to commemorate Mexican Independence weekend. Alvarez’s chosen opponent doesn’t bring much excitement. Berlanga's (22-0,17 KOs) lack of experience is what frustrates fans. He began his professional boxing career in impressive fashion, winning his first 16 fights with first-round knockouts. His next five bouts went the full 10 rounds, but he knocked out Padraig McCrory in the sixth round in his last fight. Alvarez's last fight with Jamie Munguia generated a bit over 500,000 pay-per-view buys, according to Boxing Scene. The poor showing demonstrated that fans are frustrated with Alvarez's choice of opponent.

To add to the excitement of the card PBC announced Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia on the undercard. Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs) is coming off a second-round TKO victory over Michael Zerafa in March. A former 154-pound champion. Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) is a former unified 140-pound champion and 147-pound titleholder. He rose to prominence with an upset fourth-round TKO victory over Amir Khan in 2012 and followed with a dominant victory over Lucas Matthysse the following year.His lengthy résumé includes wins over Erik Morales, Zab Judah and Lamont Peterson, along with tight decision defeats to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. The 36-year-old Philadelphian made his 154-pound debut in July 2022 with a majority decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. He hasn't competed since. 

This is a solid co-main event putting two popular older fighters together in a title match. Again this card will have its work cut out with the UFC 306 competition.