Canelo Alvarez will headline his 18th boxing card in Las Vegas when he puts his WBC, WBO and WBA super middleweight world titles on the line against Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night. The T-Mobile Arena card also includes Erislandy Lara defending his WBA middleweight belt against Danny Garcia and a super middleweight bout between Caleb Plant and Trevor McCumby for the vacant WBA interim belt.

Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) has held titles in four divisions, including the lineal middleweight and super middleweight championships. Alvarez became the undisputed super middleweight champion with an 11th-round TKO over Plant in November 2021. He made four successful defenses before being stripped of the belt by the IBF in July when Alvarez decided to face Berlanga instead of the IBF’s mandatory challenger William Scull.

“I want to show everybody that I’m still the best,” Alvarez said during Wednesday’s press conference in Las Vegas. “I still love this sport. If I don’t love it anymore, you’ll know. I love my routine and I love going to the gym every day.”

Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) has never fought for a world title. After starting his career 16-0, with all of his victories coming in the first round, Berlanga has scored just one stoppage in his last six wins.

Berlanga, a heavy underdog (+900 per ESPN BET), knows he’ll have to do something special to beat Alvarez, one of the best fighters in the world.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Berlanga said. “It’s going to be a shootout this weekend. … I’m going to make everybody believe. We’ve got Puerto Rico against Mexico and we’re going to go at it Saturday night.”

Let’s take a look at the title race by the numbers, with data from ESPN Stats & Information and CompuBox.

-2000: The odds of Alvarez winning the fight, according to ESPN BET.

1,582: Total seconds fought by Berlanga in his first 16 fights as a pro, all of which ended in the first round, for an average of 98.9 seconds per fight. The combined record of all 16 opponents at the time of their fights was 175 wins, 67 losses, and 15 draws.

4: Successful title defenses by Alvarez as undisputed super middleweight champion. He is the only male boxer with four defenses of an undisputed title in the four-belt era (since 2007).

21: Alvarez’s World Title Fight Wins; At 21-2-1, he is the fourth Mexican-born fighter with 20 or more world title fight wins. With a win Saturday, he would break a tie with Marco Antonio Barrera for third-most world title fight wins by a Mexican fighter (Julio Cesar Chavez, 31; Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, 25).

11: Undisputed male champions in the modern four-cushion era. In addition to Alvarez, they are: Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, Teofimo Lopez, Josh Taylor, George Kambosos Jr., Devin Haney, Jermell Charlo and Naoya Inoue.

14.7: Number of punches Alvarez landed per round out of 41 (35.9%, No. 5 in accuracy among champions and title contenders).

4.2: Number of punches per round landed by Alvarez out of a score of 18.3 (23%).

10.5: Alvarez connected on a career-best 22.7 punches per round (46.3%), which earned him 6th place among champions and title contenders.

6.6: Powerful punches per round Alvarez received from his opponents (30.1%).

12.4: Number of punches thrown per round by Berlanga was 37.6 (33%).

7.6: Power punches from Berlanga per round of 17.8 (42.7%).

5.8: Powerful punches per round by opponents on Berlanga (29.9%).

• Although Berlanga was born in Brooklyn, New York, he is of Puerto Rican descent and this fight is one of the notable title fights between Mexico and Puerto Rico.

• Compared to Alvarez’s championship experience, Berlanga will be fighting for a world title for the first time in his career. It will be a big step up in competition for Berlanga, who enters the fight as the No. 5 super middleweight, according to ESPN.

• Canelo will be making his eighth defense of at least one super middleweight title. He is currently a -2000 favorite to win (according to ESPN BET), which would equate to his second-shortest odds to win a super middleweight title fight.

In their own words – from Wednesday’s final press conference in Las Vegas

Berlanga on what the fight against Alvarez means to him: “It means everything to be in this position. I don’t belong here. I was doubted before I turned pro. But I knew I would end up in this position.

“I could be the face of Puerto Rican boxing after Saturday night. I’ve wanted to do that for years and now it’s my turn to do it.”

Berlanga on his pre-match approach: “I’m a knockout artist. Every fighter wants to be knocked out. We know he’s a legend and we can’t just go for the fences. We have to do it the right way. Knockout in the sixth round, that’s what we’re going for. But we’re ready for all 12 rounds if we have to.”

Alvarez on his intention to aim for a KO: “It’s easy to say you’re going to knock me out, but it’s much harder to do it. Saturday night is going to be very difficult for him, that’s for sure. I’ve been preparing for the knockout. I like the feeling of a knockout and I’m going to do my best to make it happen.

“I always give 100 percent in my fights and in training, no matter who I fight. It’s the same mentality in every fight. This is no exception. I had a great training camp and I’m ready.”

Alvarez on fighting during Mexico’s Independence Day weekend: “It is an honor to fight on this date. Mexican Independence Day is very important to us. It is very special and I am very proud to fight for the Mexican people.

“The fans mean everything to me and I appreciate them. They support me no matter what and I’m grateful to everyone who has supported me throughout my career.”