Canelo Alvarez's July 12 fight with Erislandy Lara was essentially made because of Lara's incessant trash talk. Following Alvarez's loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Lara pined to be his next opponent, only to be passed over for Alfredo Angulo.
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That led to all manner of taunts hurled Canelo's way, and even having his victory presser crashed by the Cuban. At the time Canelo scolded Lara, and told him this isn't how matches are made, but at the end of the day Canelo decided to try and make his point in the ring.
Aside from his trash talk, Alvarez said there will be more edge to this fight since Lara has not shown respect to his Mexican heritage, a badge of honor for Canelo and his fans. "He disrespected me. But not only me, he disrespected all Mexicans," Alvarez said.
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"For him to be saying that he's going to give me a boxing lesson and he's going to take me to school ... that's very disrespectful."
Lara finally got his opportunity, and as the press tour begins he isn't slowing down his motor mouth. "For the Mexican fans, we have a surprise for you July 12. I came from Cuba where I fought the best. I earned this in the ring, fighting the best in the division, not on a Mexican street corner. July 12, the best man is going to win," Lara said.
Lara's a slick boxer with elite counterpunching skills and good power that a common opponent, Austin Trout, can attest to. He has complained of being ducked by many top stars in the junior middleweight class, and contends the only reason Alvarez accepted his challenge was the pressure put on him in the media.
Alvarez seemed to confirm that with a backhanded quote, but disagreed on why Lara struggled to get big opponents. "The reality is that a year ago the fans didn't really know Lara," Canelo said, basically admitting he chose Angulo over him based on name recognition.
Nobody really knew him. But he's been talking so much that now it's built up and the fans asked for it so I wanted to give them what they wanted."
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