Canelo’s manager says Erislandy Lara a strong candidate for next fight

By Boxing News - 04/07/2014 - Comments

canelo74By Dan Ambrose: Eddy Reynoso, the trainer and manager for former WBA/WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO’s), is saying that WBA junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) is one of the leading candidates for the red-haired Canelo’s next fight in July. Carlos Molina and James Kirkland are also candidates, however.

“I can tell you that Lara is the most viable,” Reynoso said to ESPN Deportes. “He is the most feasible. I think it would be an interesting fight for all people. Carlos Molina is on the move, and the same with Kirkland. But Lara is the best, and is a clear advantage over the others.”

I’ll believe it when I see it, as far as team Canelo setting up a fight against the Mayweather-like Lara. This Cuban is too much like Mayweather, and I can’t see Canelo accepting a fight against him.

Canelo said on his twitter: “My next fight will be on July 12 at the MGM in Vegas Nevada. We have several options as rival, and one of them is the first and Lara. I was offered and accepted and we just need to stop much talk.👊”

Lara has a title defense against Ishe Smith on May 2nd, but if he gets through that fight with a victory and without any injuries, then he could have a chance at getting the Canelo fight.

Canelo’s next fight is being planned for July 12th, which means Lara would have a little over 2 months to get ready for that fight if he’s the one selected. That’s no big deal for the Cuban star, because he’s got the kind of talent to take on the 23-year-old Canelo a week after his fight against Smith. But if Lara does suffer a cut in the Smith fight, he’s not going to have much time for it to heal before the July 12th fight against Canelo.

So basically a cut for Lara in the Smith fight would keep him from getting the Canelo fight in July unless it were a small cut. That would be a huge disappointment for Lara to miss out on the Canelo fight in July, because he’s been chasing Canelo for ages for a fight without luck. It would be terrible for Lara to miss out on the fight because of an injury, because there’s no telling whether Canelo would have the desire to fight him in the future. Things could change for him.

Canelo could lose to the winner of the Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight, and/or Canelo might lose interest in fighting Lara if he looks too good in beating Ishe Smith. I think it’s more of the latter than the former, because Canelo would have a good chance of beating Cotto. I think Sergio would beat Canelo by out-boxing him, but a fight between them likely wouldn’t happen until 2015 due to Sergio likely suffering new injuries in his fight against Cotto in June. Sergio is getting up there in age, and it seems like each time he fights, he ends up getting hurt to the point where he ends up missing a lot of time.

Canelo’s recent 10th round TKO win over Alfredo Angulo last March may have boosted his confidence enough to where he’s feeling like he could beat Lara. It was kind of sad to see Lara walk up to the podium at the post-fight press conference and end up getting told to “wait his turn” by Canelo when all he did was ask him for a fight.



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