What will Mayweather do if Lara wins?

By Bob Smith - 07/10/2014 - Comments

lara945By Bob Smith: To this day, the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KOs) vs. Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KOs) fight intrigues, challenges, perplexes, and excites me. While I do favor Canelo to sneak by in a majority decision or unanimous decision, I wouldn’t be surprised by a Canelo KO/TKO or a Lara decision.

The only outcome that would surprise me is a Lara KO, because although he is a powerful puncher and counter puncher with good speed and angles, I think Canelo will be able to withstand his hard blows and even come forward through them at times.

Though the fight itself is intriguing for me, what’s is more intriguing is what Floyd Mayweather Jr will do if Lara wins. For one thing that I am completely sure about is that Lara will call out Mayweather if he does win on July 12. Attempting to analyze a potential Lara vs. Mayweather fight is one thing, but wouldn’t it make sense for Mayweather to find excuses to duck Lara? Lara is potentially the most dangerous opponent for Mayweather in the sport.

One way to explain the Mayweather selective fighting strategy occurred in a You Tube video I watched about it – essentially, the video said that the most dangerous fighters are crocodiles – fighters like Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, fighters that would have provided a very tough fighter for Mayweather, and/or had the potential to cause physical damage. Crocodiles are afraid of no one and nothing, and can claw through much bigger animals, and are essentially unbeatable (save for the giant hippo, in other words, higher weight class fighters) – with the exception of the otter.

Otters despite often being unable to fight bigger land animals, because of their swiftness, agility, and how the crocodile vs. otter styles match up, can kill a crocodile and then literally eat his internal organs out. Mayweather then takes the otters that beat the crocodiles and makes them fight on his terms – at a certain weight, no teeth, mostly on land, etc. Then both he and his fans are able to claim that there is no way that the crocodiles he refused to face would have a chance against him, because he beat the otter that beat the crocodile. (All credits to the 10 players boxing news team for the video)

What are some examples of this? For one how about claiming that because Miguel Cotto overwhelmed Martinez, that when Martinez was in his prime from 2009-2010, and begged for a Floyd fight but could not get it, that Floyd would have defeated him in the same or a more overwhelming way. How about fighting Cotto, who defeated Margarito, but refusing to face Margarito? Which is not to say that Floyd would have lost to Margarito, but he would have gotten hit more than he would have liked. What about fighting Marquez but not Pacquiao, and thus, indirectly claiming credit for the Marquez KO of Pacquiao because of his defeat of Juan Manuel Marquez, or arguing that Manny Pacquiao is now washed up because of this, and was thus unworthy of a Floyd fight all along? And there are other examples as well – for example, defeating a Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya who were definitely on the downside of their careers, for one thing. And effectively “stealing the thunder” of B class fighters who appear to be A class fighters after the best win of their careers (Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero, etc.)

Is this an anti-Mayweather article? No, Mayweather is one of my favorite fighters. Some would call his choices cowardice, I call it prudence – he fights the easiest people for him to defeat and gets the most money doing it. Boxing is a sport and a business, not gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome – and that is why Floyd will never take on a middleweight and only fights at junior middleweight against guys he thinks he can soundly defeat. The goal is to a hit and not be hit, not risk your life and health for a public that demands ever greater personal risks.

But Lara presents a problem for Mayweather if Lara does win, for Floyd is supposedly the best fighter 1t 154. If Lara does win, for sure he will call Mayweather out, and he will do it as persistently and as aggressively as he did with Canelo. Will Floyd claim that at this point in his career he is done fighting at junior middleweight? Will he claim that he needs to give all undefeated or rising stars at 147 a chance before he takes on another 154 pound fighter? Will he take on the Lara fight, but then make him agree to a catch-weight of 150 or 151 and hope to drain him? Or, will the most likely situation occur, that is, he will claim he is “busy” and let Lara go off and fight middleweights and perhaps lose, and then claim that he too could have defeated such a weak boxer, for after all, look at how Lara got knocked out by Gennady Golovkin or Peter Quillin. I think that the last option is the most likely, but perhaps Lara will be relegated to impressive wins over other weaker junior middleweights but will miss the size-able payday that Canelo would claim for facing Cotto or indeed any other boxer he chooses.

Maybe Lara will win on Saturday, maybe he will not win, but the one who is hoping Canelo wins most of all, is Floyd Mayweather Jr.



Comments are closed.