By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. feels there’s a problem with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in terms of his conditioning after he failed to make weight for his fight against Alfredo Angulo last Saturday night. Canelo would lose to WBA interim junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara, Mayweather Sr. says. He feels he’s not ready for a skilled fighter like Lara.
Floyd Sr. notes that Canelo stopped throwing combinations after the first few rounds and was just looking to land one shot at a time. Mayweather Sr. thinks he could help Canelo improve, but he’s not going to do it even if he asked him to. Canelo will need to improve on his own without Mayweather’s help if possible.
“He [Canelo] didn’t make weight so that tells you something went wrong,” Mayweather Sr. said to the Boxingsocialist. “After a few rounds, you see he was over there huffing and puffing, throwing one shot. He needs me. I can fix it, but I can’t train him. Lara would be too much for him right now. It will be a tough night for Canelo. If the guy that fought tonight fought the Cuban, no way he wins that fight.”
Floyd Sr. is probably right. The way that Canelo looked in laboring to a 10th round stoppage against Alfredo Angulo, he would be out of his element against the fast southpaw Lara. Canelo is too slow, too limited in terms of his stamina, too dependent on his opponents standing directly in front of him, and flat-footed. Lara would likely embarrass Canelo in the same way that Mayweather Jr. did by staying on the outside, making him miss with his single shots, and then picking him apart with his blazing fast shots. Canelo would have very little luck in trying to hit Lara with his badly telegraphed punches.
What’s kind of sad to see is that Canelo isn’t able to take responsibility for his loss to Mayweather Jr. He blames him for failing to be a good dance partner by him not standing in front of him the way that his past opponents had done. That’s why Angulo was so perfect for Canelo. He was slow and he just stood there in front of him letting Canelo tee off all night long. Lara would never be so stupid to let Canelo do this against him, as he would move around the ring, and make the red-haired Canelo miss with his shots and expend energy.
A lot of fans are under the impression that Canelo is ducking Lara. The fact that Canelo is choosing guys like Angulo to fight instead of Lara does nothing to dissuade that belief.
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