Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez, from Juanacatl?n, Jalisco, Mexico, defeated Erislandy Lara, from Houston by way of Guantanamo, Cuba, by controversial split decision?
Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, former WBC/WBA junior middleweight champion Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs), from Juanacatl?n, Jalisco, Mexico, defeated Erislandy Lara (19-2-2, 1 2KOs), aka The American Dream, from Houston by way of Guantanamo, Cuba, by controversial split decision. The final scores were 115-113 for Canelo, 115-113 for Lara, and a troubling 117-111 for Golden Boy?s Golden Calf.
Many were surprised that Canelo, following his loss to Floyd Mayweather, agreed to fight a clever southpaw. There are loads of fighters who?d like nothing better than to climb in the ring and let Canelo punch them. That he opted to fight Lara, who can actually box, led many to believe, perhaps incorrectly, that losing to Money must have helped Canelo grow as a fighter. After Saturday?s performance, only the most doctrinaire are sticking with the part line.
Both fighters? assets and liabilities were common knowledge coming in. Canelo, at 23, is young and strong. Offense is his strong suit. Defense is not. Lara, at 31 and a product of the Cuban system, uses speed, skills, and a high boxing IQ to keep his opponents at bay. And while he?s never been KO?d, he can be dropped, as last year?s victory over Alfredo Angulo revealed.
It was almost preordained that the final scores would raise eyebrows. When a fight is between a slugger and a boxer, style preference inevitably rears its ugly. Is the stalker who lands more effective than a runner who lands? Is a counterpuncher less efficient than a fighter who initiates? These were issues when Chris Algieri recently outpointed Ruslan Provodnikov. It was an issue at the Plaza del Toros, or rather the MGM Grand, when the bull and matador got it on.
Lara jabbed and moved. Canelo landed hard shots to the body. Both fighters did damage, but who did the most damage is impossible to know. Canelo was the aggressor throughout, but he made a habit of swinging for the fences and missing completely. Lara made the most of Canelo?s inaccuracies by quickly countering and moving out of range.
Both fighters had their moments, but it felt as though Lara did what he needed to do and Canelo did not. The bout was close. It could have been ruled a draw. But Canelo needed to win if he?s going to be taken seriously.
Final punchstat numbers, which admittedly aren?t gospel, indicate that Canelo threw more punches than Lara, 415 to 386, but Lara landed more shots 107 (28%) to 97 (23%). Lara threw (246) and landed (55) more jabs than Canelo (9 of 183) for a 22% to 5% ratio. But it was in the power punch department that Canelo, not surprisingly, had the edge. He threw 232 to Lara?s 140, and connected with 88 to Lara?s 53, 73 of which landed to the body.
There?s no arguing with Canelo?s success, but one has to wonder if he?s peaked. Have we seen the best Saul Alvarez we?re ever likely to see? He may hook up with a master trainer who can teach him some fundamentals. He may yet learn how to move his head and cut off the ring. Although he?s still a young man, he has been fighting professionally for many years and bad habits have become ingrained. Maybe, some day in the not too distant future, Canelo, if he improves, may even crack a top 10 pound-for-pound list.
