Although Canelo Alvarez already lost a fight when he faced Floyd Mayweather, his fight coming up against Erislandy Lara is the toughest challenge of his career. The reason being is he will be favored to win. Conversely, he was not expected to win the fight against Mayweather, and coming off an impressive victory over Alfredo Angulo, the fight with Mayweather is already only a memory and an important learning experience for the young Mexican superstar. The Mayweather fight only made the 23 year old better, and in the big picture, only prepares him better for difficult fighters such as Lara.
Unfortunately, Lara is a fighter that carries a lot of risk for Canelo and not a lot of reward in the sense that many laymen fans are unfamiliar with Erislandy Lara. Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) is a fighter avoided by many in the game. He is very confident in his ability and is a fighter with a defensive style, similar to Mayweather, although not as slick or fast with his punches. He may, however, have a little more power than Mayweather and is more willing to mix it up and brawl if he needs to which will make this fight interesting. It will also show how much Canelo learned in his only loss last year against Floyd Mayweather.
Lara and Alvarez have similar opponents in Alfredo Angulo, who they both stopped; and Austin Trout, who they both earned decision victories against. Alvarez has admitted this fight is now personal and admitted to taking it after significant banter and trash talk coming from Lara, along with the interest from true fans wanting this fight to happen. Canelo wants to be the best in the world and he knows Lara is one of the best. He needs to get through fighters like him to reach his goal of being the best pound for pound. Meanwhile, for Lara, this fight is a huge opportunity which can catapult him into boxing’s mainstream in regard to popularity, so expect him to be ready and rearing to go for an upset over one of Mexico’s favorite sons.
Lara’s only loss came via a controversial decision against Paul Williams in 2011, in a fight most boxing fans felt the Cuban star was robbed. As a result, judges were criticized and suspended for their questionable scoring; and similar to his fight against Williams in 2011, Lara will not be the favorite against Canelo Alvarez on July 12, 2014 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. However, Canelo fans should not chalk this one up because he will have his hands full against Lara.
That said, this fight also brings the traditional drama and interest regarding the pride between two different countrymen; it’s Mexico vs. Cuba. Will it be just another stepping stone for Canelo Alvarez and Lara’s first true loss in boxing, or will Alvarez have his second loss in just over a year?
If betting odds are any indicator, they are evening up. Canelo opened up at -190 or approximately 2 to 1; however, early action for Lara has it evening up and has Canelo down to -145. Expect it to be close to even by fight weekend. A lot of Lara fans are likely very confident given his domination of Austin Trout in comparison to a somewhat controversial decision win over Trout for Canelo Alvarez.
If you were not excited about this fight before, hopefully you are now. I would not bet on this one. Similar to the scenario for Canelo in this fight, it’s high risk with low reward to bet on. It might just be a toss up, but definitely a very important fight for 2014.