“I’m expecting one of the toughest fights of my career on July 12,”So knowing that I’ll have my fans cheering me on, not just in the arena but in movie theaters throughout the country, has me even more motivated to beat Erislandy Lara and give the fans a fight to remember.”
Saul Alvarez
The big question is whether the Mexican can get on the inside of his opponent and wear him down; to do this he will have to set traps and use his footwork to close the angles and make the ring smaller…a difficult thing to do against Lara, whose exceptional amateur ability taught him to use every inch of the squared circle. However, whilst Lara does possess lots of fantastic ‘pugilistic’ skills I’m not sure they are as good as maybe thought.
Often it is easy to label a fighter all hype (in this case Canelo) and look at the opponent as the ‘much avoided boxing technician who is far better’. However just every now and then there is a reason why a fighter is hyped…it’s because he is that good. Alvarez is no great shakes defensively…nor is he a cute boxer who can set traps and counters like the likes of Mayweather & Lara. Yet he is far from a simple walk forward slugger.
I expect Lara to have some very good rounds, in fact I expect to see him fully dominate a few. However this is one match up where I am going to use a common opponent (Angulo) in helping determine how I see this fight pan out.
Lara has had a tendency to look unremarkable when on the biggest stage and whilst I think we will see a 100% focussed Erislandy I don’t think it will be enough. In between his rounds of success I think Saul Alvarez will get to him and slowly but surely I think his combinations will find their target more and more.
Many can overlook just how varied the Mexican can be when putting together the shots and I think he will show the full repertoire come July 12th. He will have to eat a lot of leather but eventually he will get on top of Lara and when he does I don’t expect him to let up eventually stopping Lara late on in the 10th or 11th Round.
No matter who comes out on top though; boxing will be the real winner. Another 50/50 fight between two of the best fighters in their weight classes…an occurrence which is rare within the sweet science, yet one which fight fans are beginning to see more of. Let’s hope yet another even contest can showcase just why the top fighters need to fight each other and the sport pushes on and encourages more of it.
ALVAREZ
23
MEXICO
5ft 9
70 1/2
ORTHODOX
43
1
1
31
68.8
TALE OF THE TAPE
AGE
FROM
HEIGHT
REACH
STANCE
WINS
LOSSES
DRAWS
KO'S
KO %
LARA
31
CUBA
5FT 9
75
SOUTHPAW
19
1
2
12
54.5
MONTHLY PUNCH