Why Angulo vs. Canelo had a lot to with Mayweather and Lara

By Boxing News - 03/09/2014 - Comments

Canelo Alvarez v Alfredo Angulo(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Hector Gonzalez: I wrote an article last week saying that Canelo was going to beat Angulo. I got a lot of heat for that article. Many fans were predicting that Angulo was going to win. For a moment I was puzzled as to why people were picking Angulo to win, I know that there is an emotional factor involved when rooting for a fighter and I do feel that Angulo is an easy guy to like, but based on skill I didn’t quite understand why people were saying that Angulo would win so boldly.

After some thought I realize that the reason why so many people were picking Angulo to win doesn’t have much to do with Angulo or Canelo as much as it has to do with Erislandy Lara and Floyd Maymayweather. The saying in boxing today is that “All roads lead to Mayweather”, in this case as subtle as it maybe this fight was really about Mayweather’s trajectory in boxing.

There is a big train of thought involved and it starts with Lara and it ends with Mayweather. In back of people’s minds Lara is the guy that is suppose to beat Canelo and will also beat Mayweather. Erislandy Lara won a controversial victory over El Perro Angulo, so Angulo beating Canelo would have validated to these fans that Canelo was never a worthy opponent for Mayweather making him a cherry picker, and that the reason why Lara struggled so much against El Perro Angulo is because Angulo is just that good. To keep it simple, Angulo beating Canelo would have given fans a reason to discredit Mayweather and a sense of hope that Erislandy Lara could beat both Canelo and Mayweather.

Canelo beating Angulo puts things in perspective. Many fans have been saying for a long time now that Erislandy Lara would beat Canelo. I bet those fans are questioning that now. Before Erislandy Lara struggling against El Perro Angulo, Erislandy Lara had a real hard time against Carlos Molina, to be honest, I think that Carlos Molina defeated Erislandy Lara and was robbed of the victory. So the question is, could a guy like Erislandy Lara who struggled against Carlos Molina and El Perro Angulo have what it takes to beat Canelo and more importantly Floyd Mayweather?

It’s somewhat frustrating talking to Floyd Mayweather haters because the first thing they’ll say is that he’s a cherry picker. I try telling some of these fans that realistically, in present time, there is not a fighter that could beat Floyd Mayweather, maybe Manny Pacquiao but as we all know Pacquiao fights for Top Rank and HBO so there is no point in getting into that. These same fans look to Erislandy Lara as the guy to take out Mayweather. Well the truth of the matter is that Erislandy Lara was schooled by Carlos Molina and got very lucky against El Perro Angulo, the same Angulo that Canelo dismantled last night.

Based on Canelo’s victory last night it’s my personal opinion that Erislandy Lara will not beat Canelo Alvarez or even come close to defeating Floyd Mayweather.

I think that Floyd Mayweather will retire undefeated, and I think Canelo Alvarez has a great career to look forward to and I think Erislandy Lara is not going to get in that way of that happening.

Contact Hector Gonzalez at Hect59@hotmail.com



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