Canelo Álvarez spent Saturday doing what he usually does around this time of year during Mexico’s Independence Day weekends: taking care of business. In this case, it was a win over undefeated challenger Edgar Berlanga.

The unified super middleweight champion outclasses his undefeated challenger in a unanimous decision (117-110, 118-109, 118-109). It is his fifth consecutive title defense that goes the distance.

Unlike other fights where he needed time to build momentum, the heavily favored Álvarez had the advantage from the first bell. He took the first two rounds calmly before knocking Berlanga down with a left hook in the third. More punishment followed, but Berlanga managed to survive.

Álvarez improved as the fight progressed, but Berlanga’s trash talk remained high throughout. Berlanga made further missteps, including a warning for an intentional headbutt and a fall after throwing and missing a power punch. He spent much of the pre-fight proceedings trying to irritate Álvarez and continued to do so throughout the fight, with Álvarez occasionally rebounding.

But in the end, Berlanga landed more words than punches. At least the pair embraced briefly after the final bell, both presumably knowing exactly what decision was coming.

It was still a decent showing for Berlanga despite the loss. He built his reputation on a string of first-round knockouts, but was a huge underdog on Saturday. Álvarez still looked a class above him, but the 27-year-old looked like he was in the mix at the end, and that could be a win in itself as he looks to find his next opponent.

As for Álvarez, he hasn’t won via finish since beating Caleb Plant, who won earlier on Saturday, in November 2021. It may not be a good sign for the way the 34-year-old is aging.

The bigger question now, though, is where Alvarez will go from here. Rising star David Benavidez might be the easiest answer, but Alvarez may still want a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, the only fighter to beat him since Floyd Mayweather in 2013. And who knows? Maybe a superfight against super welterweight king Terence Crawford could be in the cards.

Here’s how it all went down via Yahoo Sports:

Canelo Álvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga full results

• Unified Super Middleweight Title: Canelo Álvarez defeated Edgar Berlanga by unanimous decision (117-110, 118-109, 118-109)

• WBA Middleweight Title: Erislandy Lara def. Danny Garcia by RTD at 3:00 of R9

• Interim WBA super middleweight title: Caleb Plant def. Trevor McCumby by TKO at 2:59 of round 9

• Featherweight: Rolando Romero def. Manuel Jaimes by unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 99-91)