Canelo Alvarez is one of boxing's brightest young stars, and many see him as the heir apparent to Floyd Mayweather Jr. as boxing's top draw, but his July 12 opponent Erislandy Lara feels strongly that he will derail Alvarez's momentum.
After losing handily to Mayweather last September, Canelo rebounded nicely with a March victory over Alfredo Angulo in which he both appeared dominant and registered good pay-per-view numbers despite being a heavy favorite. He had eschewed fighting Lara, who was viewed by many as a more capable opponent and more importantly, owned a victory over Angulo.
Alvarez out to "silence" mouthy Lara
Lara derided the matchup as one between "two losers," and mocked Alvarez on social media as "Canela." He even crashed Canelo's post-Angulo presser and was scolded by the young superstar "that's not how fights are made." Lara's aggression was rewarded though, as Alvarez has agreed to fight him if only to get him to shut up. The Mexican admitted as much-- "Erislandy Lara has talked a lot of trash, and that's why he's gotten this opportunity," Alvarez said. "He said a lot of things in the media and on Twitter and in various other social media."
Lara's not an easy opponent, however. He is a slick, defensive-minded fighter which has caused Canelo problems in the past. "Canelo is an arrogant and inflated boxer," Lara said. "I really don't like him for his character, in addition to him being inflated.
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"But it's not something that's personal for me. He doesn't realize what kind of trouble he's going to have when he faces me. I am superior to Canelo Alvarez in every area."
Canelo and Lara share Angulo and Austin Trout as common opponents, and Trout agrees with the Cuban. "Lara is the better boxer," Trout told BoxingScene.com. "Canelo may be strong but I don't think he'll be able to land on Lara. I've got Lara by unanimous decision."
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