(This story was originally published in USA TODAY.)

Canelo Alvarez didn’t get the knockout he promised.

But he did throw some brutal punches (and take a few) and earned an impressive unanimous decision win over Edgar Berlanga in a 12-round super middleweight bout.

The fighters had to be separated several times and talked trash throughout the match. Berlanga was warned at one point for headbutting and Alvarez seemed unable to keep up with that and other Berlanga tactics. “I’m getting a little angry – a Mexican guy,” Alvarez said. The crowd roared with laughter.

The jury gave the score 117-110, 118-109, 118-109.

“I am the best fighter in the world,” Alvarez said as he was cheered by a sold-out crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Alvarez knocked Berlanga down with a left hook in the third round while defending his super middleweight title.

But Berlanga quickly recovered and survived the onslaught in a 12-round fight.

Alvarez has now had six fights without a knockout, the last being in 2021 against Caleb Plant, who stopped Alvarez by TKO in the 11th round.

Saturday’s bout was seen as the latest chapter in the boxing rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico, with Alvarez taking on Berlanga, a New York native whose parents are from Puerto Rico.

“I could have done a lot more. But I was sitting there with a legend, man,” Berlanga said.

Alvarez, 34, improved his mark to 62-2-2. Berlanga, 27, dropped to 22-1.