On Saturday, September 14, legendary Mexican Canelo Álvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) will take on the dangerous, unbeaten Puerto Rican, Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) for Alvarez’s WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight titles. This world title bout will be the headline fight at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas and be promoted by Canelo Promotions – in association with Matchroom Boxing. In preparation for fight night, BFW is taking you back to the last time Canelo faced off against a Puerto Rican opponent and that was on November 21, 2015, when he clashed with Miguel Cotto for The Ring, TBRB and vacant WBC middleweight titles at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
It was a fight that saw both boxers edge on the side of caution, with Cottio looking to work off his jab – with Canelo landing the more eye-catching punches. Cotto seemed more intent on boxing and moving, but Álvarez consistently landed hurtful body shots at his opponent. Both fighters showed grit and took the best shots from their opponent, especially Cotto who showed just how strong his chin was.
The more accurate and hurtful punches came from Canelo and this was seemingly the deciding factor on the judge’s scorecards, as all three saw Canelo as the winner. The official scores were 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111. Many ringside commented that the fight was closer, but watching it back, Canelo was the deserved winner and outlanded his opponent. According to Compubox, the Mexican landed 32% of punches thrown while Cotto landed 21%.
After the loss to Canelo, Cotto only returned almost two years later – to comfortably outpoint Yoshihiro Kamegai. The last bout of his career came at the end of 2017 as he lost by a unanimous decision to Sadam Ali. Following that defeat to Ali, he called time on a 17-year professional career.
Canelo defeated Cotto and then won his next free fights against Amir Khan, Liam Smith and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. before his memorable first fight with Gennadiy Golovkin.
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Seventy players qualified for the first round of the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, but only 69 will tee it up at TPC Southwind this week. That's because Rory McIlroy, who ranks second in the FedEx Cup standings behind only Scottie Scheffler, is skipping the first playoff event to prepare for the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. The PGA Tour isn't thrilled with his contentious decision. Peter Malnati, a PGA Tour pro and player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, told Golfweek he's "very concerned" the new playoff format allows top players in the standings to skip playoff events. "I think there is stuff in the works, and I'll leave it at that," he said. The PGA Tour must make changes because McIlroy won't face any repercussions for skipping the FedEx St. Jude Championship. As the No. 2 player in the FedEx Cup standings entering the postseason, McIlroy is guaranteed to qualify for the Tour Championship. Before this year, he would've been incentivized to improve his spot in the standings because of the advantage the starting strokes format gave the No. 1 player. That's no longer the case. This year, the Tour Championship will operate like every other tournament on the PGA Tour schedule. There will be no starting strokes advantage for the top players, so every player from No. 1 to No. 30 will have an equal chance to win the $10 million prize. It doesn't matter where McIlroy resides in the standings. It just matters that he makes it to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, and he's already locked up his spot in the season finale. Why spend a week in scorching-hot Memphis when you could stay home and prepare for the tournament that actually matters, right? The new playoff format will make the Tour Championship more entertaining for fans, but it renders the other two playoff events irrelevant for the PGA Tour's top players. The Tour must make playoff events mandatory to prevent other stars from following McIlroy's lead.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel likely won the respect of his team Wednesday. However, he may have needed a few stitches afterward. The Patriots hosted a joint practice with the Washington Commanders at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. New England rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson took a Commanders pass-rusher to the ground in pass protection, resulting in a scuffle. Vrabel then jumped in to help stop the fight. His face was bloodied after both teams calmed down. Patriots second-year quarterback Drake Maye loved that his coach was willing to step in. In a news conference after practice, the 22-year-old passer said that's the mentality the team needs. "That's what we're trying to build," he said. "The intensity, bringing it every day, taking no cr-p when we're out on the field. But also, it comes a time where, with our guys offensively, and getting over there and getting some tussles and kind of having some penalties, and extra after the whistle, can get us in trouble. But for mentality, I like it. I mean, I almost got in there, but I think maybe another day, maybe." His new coach doesn't want the QB to get in any brawls. The Patriots are banking on the third overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft being the franchise's future. Plus, he doesn't need to worry about the Patriots' intensity with Vrabel in the building. New England wide receiver DeMario Douglas noted the former linebacker didn't seem rattled after breaking up the scrap. "I said, 'Coach, what's wrong with you?' And he said, 'You should have seen the other guy,'" Douglas told the media while smiling. "I just saw the scar on his face but didn't know what was happening." Vrabel likely sent two messages at Wednesday's practice. He won't tolerate an undisciplined team but also has his players' backs. That could go a long way for a Patriots squad aiming to improve after a 4-13 season.
Much has been said about the Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver room in the offseason, but there is also still a lot to discover about the group. For one, rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden, for all the hype he’s been getting, has yet to show what he can do downfield in an official NFL game. He will get his chances soon, though, with the NFL preseason coming up for the Packers and the 2025 NFL regular season just around the corner. Meanwhile, other wide receivers like Romeo Doubs are a known factor for the Packers, as he enters his fourth season in the NFL. Still, he must be motivated to have a big season ahead, considering that he has no contract beyond the 2025 campaign. Selected in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the 2022 NFL draft by the Packers, the former Nevada football star is hard at work in the offseason, improving his chemistry with his teammates, most importantly with star quarterback Jordan Love. Jordan Love, Romeo Doubs connect for spectacular touchdown at Green Bay Packers training camp During a recent training camp session, Doubs beat defensive backs Javon Bullard and Evan Williams downfield and caught a pass from Love for a huge 55-yard touchdown. A slo-mo video of that play was posted by the Packers on social media, particularly on X, leaving Green Bay and football fans buzzing. Last season, Doubs finished fourth on the team with 601 receiving yards to go along with four touchdowns on 46 receptions and 72 targets. He only played in 13 games, as he missed four games due to a concussion he suffered in a Week 12 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.
As of Thursday morning, there was no indication that Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was close to either giving Micah Parsons a lucrative extension or trading Parsons after the pass-rusher in the final year of his rookie contract requested a trade on Aug. 1. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recently spoke with Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports and revealed the message he sent to Parsons after the 26-year-old went public with his trade request. "(Expletive), man," Prescott said about what he told Parsons. "It wasn't '(Expletive) you, Micah,' or '(Expletive) them.' It's more of a '(Expletive), this is frustrating for everybody involved.'" Prescott previously voiced his frustrations over the fact that contract stalemates involving star Dallas players are seemingly "an each and every year conversation." Last summer, news about Prescott's four-year contract extension broke only hours before Dallas' regular-season opener got underway. Weeks earlier, Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb received a four-year, $136M deal after the club completed the preseason portion of its schedule. "Not many people, especially here, have been in that position," Prescott said about reaching out to Parsons. "So, I know what that means just to support him." It's assumed Parsons is looking to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL after T.J. Watt reset the market for edge-rushers when he agreed to a three-year, $123M extension that included $108M guaranteed in July. Parsons has attended training camp as a non-participant while he deals with a supposed back injury that probably has more to do with his contract situation than with how he's feeling this summer. Multiple Cowboys players made it known via social media that they feel Jones should pay Parsons before Dallas begins preparing for its Week 1 game at the Philadelphia Eagles. Prescott clearly agrees with his teammates. "Obviously, I believe he should get paid," Prescott added. "But I think he’s making the right approach by being at training camp because a lot of times [players] forget how much joy and love being around your teammates [brings] and how much of that is truly football when you’re focused on a contract and you’re just waiting for that to be done. ...He’s a guy that’s done a lot for this team and deserves to have his stance." Jones raised eyebrows when he admitted that he "absolutely" couldn't say for sure that Parsons will play against the Eagles on the first Thursday of September. As much as Prescott and others in the locker room may not like it, it sounds like the Parsons saga will continue to hover over the Cowboys through the preseason.
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