By Matt Lieberman: Erislandy Lara (26-3-3, 15 KOs) made quick work of Ramon “Inocente” Alvarez 28-8-3, 16 KOs) in stopping him in the 2nd round to win the vacant WBA ‘regular’ middleweight title on Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lara, 36, regained his WBA 154-lb title that he’d lost last year to Jarrett Hurd in April 2018.
Lara calls out Errol Spence after the fight
After the fight, Lara called IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (25-1, 21 KOs) for a fight.
Tonight’s Lara-Alvarez fight was shown live on PBC on Fox. Former WBA Super World junior middleweight champion Lara hurt the 33-year-old Alvarez with a right hand to the head in the second. Lara then unloaded a flurry of shots to the head of Alvarez that led to the referee Mark Nelson stepping in to stop the contest. The time of the stoppage was at 2:03 of round 2.
Lara initially hurt Alvarez with a big shot that led to him being given a count. When the action resumed, Lara flurried on the defenseless Alvarez until the referee had to stop the fight. Alvarez was backed up against the ropes during all this, and he had no way of escaping the rain of punches that the 36-year-old Lara was hitting him with.
.@Laraboxing stops @Inocente02Ramon via 2RD TKO and walks away as #TheNew WBA Super Welterweight Champion! #LaraAlvarez #PBConFox pic.twitter.com/P7bzBgJE3i
— PBC (@premierboxing) September 1, 2019
Ramon Alvarez rehydrated to 177-lbs
Alvarez came in 4.6 pounds over the 154-lb limit at the weigh-in last Friday. This meant that he had no shot at winning the vacant WBA title tonight. Shockingly, Alvarez rehydrated up to 177-lbs after weighing in at 158½ lbs. last Friday. That’s nearly 20 pounds that Alvarez put back on after the weigh-in, and it’s hard to believe.
For all intents and purposes, Alvarez was a cruiserweight tonight. It makes you wonder whether he took his training for the Lara fight seriously or not. At 33, Alvarez isn’t still growing. The high weight that he came in for the fight suggests that he didn’t train hard enough for the fight. Lara rehydrated to 169 pounds, which is a normal weight for him.
The victory for Lara enabled him to get back at Canelo Alvarez for his questionable 12 round split decision defeat against him in 2014. A lot of boxing fan felt that Lara did enough in that fight to beat Canelo, but two of the judges felt different. Lara asked for a rematch with Canelo Alvarez the fight, but he was told to get in the back of the line. Lara was hoping that by beating Alvarez, Canelo would want to turn his attention to him to avenge the loss. That’s not likely going to be the case. Canelo has become a businessman at this point in his career, and he carefully selects popular fighters. Lara isn’t popular, and he’s not signed to DAZN. That’s the platform that Canelo fights on.
Lara wins his first fight since 2017
Tonight’s win for Lara was his first since beating Terrell Gausha by a 12 round unanimous decision in October 2017. In Lara’s last two fights, he’s fought to a draw against Brian Carlos Castano and lost to Jarrett Hurd (23-1, 16 KOs).
Lara’s win Alvarez won’t likely get him a rematch against Canelo, but it will put him in position to fight Hurd again. It’s unclear whether Lara is interested in fighting Hurd again, as he’s no longer a world champion after losing to Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams last May.
What did Ramon Alvarez do to get ranked #6 with the World Boxing Association?
Alvarez did little to earn his fight for the WBA title tonight. He was knocked out in the 9th round last November by Brandon Rios. In Alvarez’s last fight, he squeaked by journeyman Jose Carlos Paz (23-10-1, 13 KOs) by a 10 round split decision last April. That wasn’t a big enough win for Alvarez to be given a top 10 ranking by the WBA.