Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara: A Contrast in Styles

Lara’s strengths

There’s something very satisfying about the way Erislandy Lara fights. A stylist, Lara does everything well. Against another southpaw, Paul Williams, Lara looked brilliant as he maneuvered his way inside to hurt the taller fighter. Evident in his pinpoint breakdown of Austin Trout, Lara consistently works the jab and follows with one of the better straight lefts in the sport. If Trout walked in carelessly in that fight, Lara hit him with a stinging uppercut. Conversely, if Trout closed the gap between the fighters, Lara counter punched him or spun him and retreated in the other direction.

Lara’s shiftiness is tough for any opponent; he’s not exceedingly quick with his feet like Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he’s efficient and smart. Rarely, does he put himself in a dangerous situation. Defensively, Lara moves well, doesn’t take many big punches, and knows how to use his height to his advantage. He doesn’t have extremely quick hands, or overwhelming power, but is disciplined and methodical in his approach. As a stylist, Lara is a fighter who the boxing purist roots for.

Canelo’s growth

As a boxer-puncher, Canelo Alvarez is growing as a fighter, but still has a long way to go. Having been severely exposed against Floyd Mayweather Jr., it would have been easy for Canelo to have gotten discouraged and let it affect his next performance. Instead, he used it as motivation and got better. Against Alfredo Angulo, a tailor-made opponent, Canelo looked sensational. After the Mayweather loss, he had to.

Sure, Canelo is still learning on the job. Does he still make mistakes in the ring? Absolutely. However, relying on his unique blend of youth, power, and speed, Canelo doesn’t always suffer the consequences that other fighters do. Post-Mayweather, Canelo reverted back to his old form – to attack. Part of the learning process means taking a loss, dissecting it, and improving. Angulo is one of the toughest fighters in boxing; Canelo beat him easily. Now Lara is another step in the learning process. An excellent counterpuncher and strong, Lara can’t fight going backwards and he will have to against Canelo. When Lara is put in that position, he just paws at his opponent, covers up, and tries to keep him at bay. Lara forced Trout to come to him; unfortunately, he won’t have that luxury against Canelo, who will be coming forward the entire fight. Lara is a tough fighter who keeps getting better each day, but he’s facing an opponent who is also maturing.

The outcome

Canelo won’t be as accurate as he was against Angulo, but he will land power punches that will hurt Lara. As he did against Trout, Lara will box, use his jab, mix in an uppercut to punish Canelo, and do his best to throw off Canelo’s rhythm. When Lara boxes at this level, there are few fighters who can handle him. On the other hand, if Canelo is in top shape (which he hasn’t been in the past), then Lara will have no time to get comfortable.

Style-wise Lara, a southpaw, likes space to maneuver; that space allows him to control the pace of the fight. However, he won’t have that luxury against Canelo. Lara will aggravate Canelo at times with his reach and a nice, consistent jab, but will also take a lot of punishment and ultimately not be able to withstand Canelo’s power.

Early on, Canelo will take a round to find his comfort zone, and then start to attack Lara. He will be used to the movement as well as the southpaw style from past opponents. Some rounds will be close early on, but look for Canelo to punish Lara in the later rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.