Canelo Álvarez vs. Erislandy Lara
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| Date | 12 July 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Álvarez defeats Lara by split decision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Canelo Álvarez vs. Erislandy Lara, billed as Honor & Glory, was a professional boxing match contested on 12 July 2014.[1]
Background
[edit]In April 2014 WBA (Regular) titleholder Erislandy Lara agreed to face former unified light middleweight champion Canelo Álvarez in a bout to be televised on Showtime pay-per-view.[2][3]
Lara's WBA Regular title was not on the line, as the fight took place at a 155-pound catchweight and both fighters weighed in at precisely 155 lbs. Álvarez rehydrated to 171 lbs while Lara came into the ring at 166 lbs.
The fight
[edit]Lara came out in dominant fashion, utilizing a stick-and-move style and capturing the early rounds. Although Álvarez struggled with Lara's one-two combinations, Lara's punches weren't thrown with sufficient power or frequency to dissuade him from consistently pressing the fight against a retreating Lara, and he was able to hammer away to Lara's body when he had him on the ropes. Lara's lead hand played a huge role in his one-two combination's effectiveness, but his output dropped as the fight progressed and he became increasingly tentative. Álvarez was able to cut Lara with a lead left uppercut in the seventh round.[4]
After a very close and competitive fight, it went to the judges, Jerry Roth scored it 115–113 for Lara, Dave Moretti had 115–113 for Álvarez and Levi Martinez had it 117–111 for Álvarez giving him a split decision victory. Lara's clean punching, defense and movement were weighed against Álvarez's effective aggressiveness and power punching.[5][6]
The final scorecard was controversial as many observers considered it far too wide.[7][8]
Aftermath
[edit]Although the decision remains controversial, any talk of a rematch in the future was dismissed by Oscar De La Hoya who went on to say, "No one wants a rematch."[9][10]
Undercard
[edit]Confirmed bouts:[11]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Abner Mares
|
 Jonathan Oquendo
|
Featherweight (10 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Francisco Vargas
|
Juan Manuel López
|
NABF & WBO International Super featherweight titles (10 rounds) | 3rd round RTD |
 Mauricio Herrera
|
 Johan Perez
|
WBA interim light welterweight title | Majority decision |
| Preliminary bouts | |||
 Tomoki Kameda
|
 Panya Uthok
|
WBO World Bantamweight title | 7th round KO |
| John Karl Sosa
|
Luis Adrian Bello
|
Welterweight (6 rounds) | Split decision |
 Yamaguchi Falcao
|
Jesus Cruz
|
Super middleweight (6 rounds) | 1st round TKO |
 Jason Quigley
|
Howard Reece
|
Middleweight (6 rounds) | 1st round TKO |
Broadcasting
[edit]| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Australia |
Main Event |
 United Kingdom |
BoxNation |
| United States |
Showtime |
References
[edit]- ^ "Saul Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ Lance Pugmire (14 April 2014). "Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez will fight Erislandy Lara on July 12". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ Doug Fischer (7 May 2014). "Canelo Alvarez takes on Erislandy Lara in high-risk fight". ringtv.com. The Ring. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ "Erislandy Lara vs Canelo – Lara Film Study". YouTube. 6 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ "Canelo Affirms superstar status with split decision over Erislandy Lara". Bleacher Report. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ Dan Rafael (13 July 2014). "Canelo Alvarez earns split decision". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ Doug Fischer (13 July 2014). "Alvarez beats Lara but the debate on who 'really' won continues". Ring TV. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ BN Staff (14 July 2014). "Opinion split in boxing media on who won the Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez-Erislandy Lara showdown". boxingnewsonline.net. Boxing News. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ "Oscar De La Hoya Won't Explore Canelo Alvarez Rematch". Las Vegas Sun. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ "Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez wins a split decision verdict over Cuba's Erislandy Lara". Sky Sports.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".