Canelo Gets Past Lara: Who's Next?

 Lara Ran Away From Victory

 I thought the only real chance Canelo had to win the fight was by knockout. What I didn't realize was that Canelo would be the hometown favorite and that he really only had to keep it close. If Canelo did as much as Maidana did against Floyd he would get the decision. In fact he didn't get to Lara nearly as often as Maidana did Mayweather, but where Mayweather threw shots in retaliation he was still throwing. When Lara wasn't outpointing Canelo he was running for his life. Ali was the best ever at moving around the ring, and fighters were in as much danger when he was moving as they were when he planted to throw. Lara was no danger to Canelo as he hit him and ran. I cannot blame the judges for not rewarding him for running. He did more of that than he did boxing. So although he did throw and land the cleaner more effective punches; he didn't do it in a way that looked like he wanted to win. Canelo won the fight and he deserved the win. He actually hit the moving Lara more than I expected.


Who's Next?



De La Hoya Talks Possible Golovkin Bout for Canelo


I think the most realistic fights for Canelo are Cotto or Golovkin. They might want to go after Cotto. His recent victory came over a broken version of Sergio Martinez. He might be the most suspect of the two. Golovkin needs a fight with Canelo or Cotto. Chavez Jr needs a fight with one of the three, (Canelo, Golovkin, or Cotto) but it wouldn't hurt him to take a fight with Lara to prove himself. The other three need to fight. The odd man out could take on Chavez Jr or even Lara. The best fighters in the division are all at the top and they need to fight each other.  

Prediction: Erislandy Lara vs. Saul Alvarez

Canelo Could Be In Trouble

This fight started out as a 50-50 pick'em, but I think the odds have shifted in favor of Lara. Most of the boxing experts are picking him, and the two common opponents have both said they think Lara is the better fighter. Canelo didn't have to take this tough fight. He could have taken another Angulo type opponent to build up his stock. He didn't do it because he wanted to fight the best. Lara says Canelo will regret taking the fight. It doesn't appear that Canelo will win, but he asked for the fight and he really appears confident that he'll win. 


The Two Common Fights

Lara and Canelo both fought Alfredo Angulo and Austin Trout. I think Canelo did better against Angulo, and Lara did better against Trout. Canelo proved in his fight with Angulo that he could box from the outside. There was a noticeable improvement in his speed. When Lara took on Trout he totally dominated him. Lara proved he was a better boxer than Trout. Canelo had trouble with Trout and if he hadn't knocked him down then he might not have beat him. So it would seem that Lara would beat Canelo, but then considering that Angulo dropped Lara, well just imagine what Canelo's power shots could do. 


Alfredo Angulo

                           

   

Austin Trout

The New Canelo Alvarez

Canelo learned a lot from his defeat against Floyd Mayweather. When he needed to box with Mayweather he didn't have the hand speed to do so. He never found opportunities to throw his best punches. He was taken to school, and he clearly took something away from his lesson. Canelo went back to the gym and when he faced Angulo he was much faster. It seems Angulo was a test. Canelo could fight from the outside with his newly increased speed, but if things got rough he felt he could blast Angulo out of there. Canelo blasted him out of there, but it wasn't with one big punch. He beat Angulo with powerful and quick shots. He broke him down and completely dominated him. 

 




Lara Knows He Can Beat Canelo
  
The only loss on Lara's record is a horrible decision to Paul Williams. The man should be undefeated as it was one of the worst decisions I've ever witnessed. Lara dominated the tall southpaw fighter. I thought he took all but two rounds of the fight. He beat him to the punch all night and didn't have anything on Williams in reach, He out boxed him with an in and out attack that Paul had no answer for. 

What does the Williams fight have to do with Canelo? 

Lara fought the same fight with Williams that I expect against Canelo. The one fight that Canelo lost was to Mayweather, and he was out boxed in that fight. He's going to take the fight to Lara, because that's what he does, and that's also what Paul Williams did. Lara with his attack and move style out boxed and out pointed him. That is what he'll be doing against Canelo. I believe he knows he can out box him regardless of Alvarez's improvements in that area. 

The Prediction

I recently heard that Canelo is the favorite in the fight. I figured that would be Canelo. The loss to Mayweather actually helped his career. The casual fan believes that Canelo is better than Lara, but those in boxing all say Lara wins this one including the two common opponents. I like Canelo and have always liked the slugger type fighters, Tyson, Morrison, Foreman, Fraizer, Patterson, Marciano, etc. However, I believe the better boxer has the advantage over the power punchers. Lennox Lewis out boxed Tyson and Morrison. Ali out boxed Fraizer,Foreman, and Patterson. Marciano never lost but he was losing to Ezzard Charles who was out boxing him before he got caught. Canelo is a power puncher like the others, but since the loss to Mayweather he has improved in the area of boxing. 

It still comes down to the power for Canelo. Can he catch Lara for the knockout? I cannot see that happening. I've got Lara by a split decision.  

Mayweather vs. Maidana Rematch Set for September 13th

 Mayweather vs. Maidana 2

Floyd Mayweather has announced the rematch with Marcos Maidana for September 13. This is a fight that I thought Floyd had to take. Their first fight was so close that I originally thought Maidana had done enough to win, but upon rewatching the bout I realized that Floyd had outscored him in more of the later rounds. At first I'd thought Maidana won more rounds 7-12. The real point is that Floyd told him he could have a rematch that night because he knew the man had fought him close. The judges had scored the fight 114-114, 117-111, 116-112. I didn't think that the fight was a draw, but it was close enough to see why and how someone would have scored it that way. The boxing public had nothing good to say about that score and wondered what judge Michael Pernick  was smoking. It was an extremely hard fight to score and I found nothing wrong with the 114-114 scorecard. This fight was screaming for a rematch and Floyd did what he needed to do in this situation.
 

Scoring the 1st Fight

The first fight was very hard to score and I admit that I initially scored it wrong. In my defense I wasn't scoring it the first time I watched it. What I noticed was that Maidana was throwing and bullying Floyd. It's true that Mayweather was hitting Maidana, but he was scoring a lot of his points fighting his way out of trouble. Mayweather was rarely the fighter coming forward and forcing the action. It's easy to see why someone might not have scored all the punches Floyd landed. He was consistently fighting for his life and to the judging eye he appeared to be the one in trouble. Maidana would move in and catch a few punches coming in, and then he'd corner Mayweather landing some of his own, but many were blocked by by Floyd. He'd land some shot on the inside, however they weren't easy to see and didn't have the visual presence that Maidana's punches did. Mayweather landed the higher percentage of punches, but Maidana was clearly landing the harder punches.


Why Do I Want to See it Again?

1) The first fight was close.

2) Floyd said he give him a rematch.

3) Mayweather said he could do better than he did.

4) The other big fighters all have opponents.

5) The first fight was full of action. 


The first fight was close enough that some fans thought Maidana was the winner. Mayweather himself looked unsure of the outcome as he awaited the decision. He knew he owed Maidana a rematch based on his own performance. Floyd and some of his fans believe he could have really outclassed Maidana the way he did Guerrero. I don't think he can beat Maidana like that, and that's assuming he had an off night. Floyd can outpoint Maidana and he knows that after the first fight. Maidana knows that Floyd is quick and elusive, but after facing Mayweather he realizes that he can take his best punches. I'd be completely shocked if Mayweather mixed it up with Maidana, and I know that is exactly what El Chino is going to want to do. I want to see what kind of adjustments the two fighters have made. The fight will be a good one and promises all the action of the first contest.