By: Hans Themistode
Although it’s been almost a decade since Erislandy Lara took on a much younger Canelo Alvarez, the Cuban-born star still has doubts about the final outcome.
In July 2014, Alvarez, then a 154-pound contender, tried to prove he had matured since losing to Floyd Mayweather a year earlier. With the new Hall of Famer boxing world introduced around the Mexican native, Alvarez believes victory over a boxer of Lara’s caliber will propel his career in the right direction.
In the end, though Lara believed he had done more than enough to raise his hand in victory, he was forced to swallow a decisively controversial defeat. Even though Lara has learned to live with the results, he still believes he has been handed a rough deal.
Even now, at the age of 38, Lara believes that no matter who Alvarez faces from here on, both himself and his former teammate, Jermall Charlo, are the hardest fighters. his.
“Jermall Charlo and myself, we are the most complex opponents to Canelo,” Lara said in an interview with George Ebro. “We are the most dangerous people. With me [Canelo] pass away.”
Before Alvarez officially registered to fight WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Charlo was definitely Alvarez’s possible enemy. In the end, however, Alvarez chose not to take on the current 160-pound WBC player, at least for the time being.
Despite Lara’s attempt to lure Alvarez back into the ring for a second time, the two are highly unlikely to get things running again at this point in their careers.
Since the loss to Alvarez, Lara has put together an unbeaten streak from 2014 to 2017. However, he will go on to lose again to Jarrett Hurd in 2018, before a final draw. fixed with Brian Castano in 2019 at £154.
With wear and tear as well as age, Lara opted to gain weight. In her first competition as an official middleweight in 2021, Lara scored a knockout with a brutal punch against Thomas LaManna. As for his next bout, Lara has a solid idea of when he will step foot in the ring again, but he’s unclear against whom.
No matter who he faces, Lara will just try to maintain his momentum, while keeping an eye on Alvarez.
“I feel good, thank God, in very good condition. They told me I would fight again on May 7th. Let’s see if it holds up, with God’s permission. It’s the same day as Canelo Alvarez, but we’ll see what happens from here to there. ”
