Canelo vs. Lara: Honor and Glory – Fight of the Year?

By portum89 - 05/14/2014 - Comments

Canelo with fans(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) On July 12th, boxing fans will get a chance to see history being made in what could be a fierce battle between WBA junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO’s) in a fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. On one side we have a true champion in 23-year-old Canelo, who has evolved with his boxing skills after losing a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September. Even though his footwork and stamina might not be the best, he has other skills to compensate and be able to punish his opponents.

One the other side, we have if not the most skilled fighter, one of the most skilled fighters out there in a southpaw Erislandy Lara. He’s got great footwork and hand speed. Lara has had a great amateur boxing career and counts with over 200 amateur fights in his native Cuba.

The Lara-Canelo clash is definitely honor and glory. We will evidence an even, dramatic, exciting match that will mark 2 boxing careers with a highly possible rematch on the table.

Lara got this fight not only because of his skills, but because he did a very good job at trash talking Team Canelo. Lara also got the fight by beating Austin Trout, a fighter that Canelo struggled to beat last year. Lara beat Trout in a much more convincing manner than Canelo.

Canelo himself is very technical too, he learned from his experience with Mayweather and will be a whole different fighter. His power is to respect it. Lara’s trainer has acknowledged that Canelo can hit with both hands at great speeds with great power.

What Canelo needs to win is to simply go to the body against Lara. Keep hitting him with left and right hooks to slow him down. Lara went to the canvas twice in his 10th round TKO win over Alfredo Angulo last year, which showed one of Lara’s weaknesses.

Canelo hits much harder than Angulo as we know. It is probably not a not smart thing for Lara to trade with Canelo, as he has a good chin and does not like to get hit. Lara does not like to get hit either, but does not have a very powerful chin.

Lara’s best bet is to try to out-box Canelo if possible and keep the distance between them. I admire Canelo for taking this fight. He had the option of going with much easier opponents, but he himself chose to fight Lara. He has the spirit of a real champion. Canelo is not scared of any opponent and is willing to prove that he can take on the best fighters around. Lara does seem very confident on this fight that he can take it with his skills and style.

Lara has done a good job of adding interest to the fight by talking bad about Canelo and Mexico, saying that he would take him to school and claiming that the best boxers come from Cuba.

The fight is a done deal now, so there’s really no point in trash talking other than for hyping the fight

On July 12th, we will see one of the best, if not the best fight of the year. Two great champions, two warriors, two fighters that do not taking anything from anyone. These two fighters that will leave their souls in the ring. It is an exciting and interesting fight.

We thank Canelo for taking it, and Lara for accepting it. It will be worth every single penny. My take on this fight is that Canelo will win either by a knockout in 6th or 7th round, or he wins by a 12-round unanimous decision. I do not think that Lara will take the fight. Yes, he is an amazing fighter, and yes, he is the more technical fighter, but the power and speed of Canelo, I think will be a great factor in leading him to a possible win.



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