Showtime PPV Fight Preview (Main Event)

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara

If you hadn't already planned to watch the July 12th Showtime PPV main event you need to.  It will be a 12 round bout in the junior middleweight division between Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and the slick Cuban Erislandy Lara.  These two men seem to have a genuine hatred of one another so expect the action to be good.  It started at the press conference after Alvarez had beaten Alfredo Angulo when Lara basically took the microphone from Alvarez to challenge him to this fight.  Since then there have been plenty of jabs back and forth and it is clear these two pugilist can't wait to get into the ring.

Canelo looked better then ever against Angulo

Alvarez is a strong orthodox fighter who likes to let opponents take the lead and counter them.  He has a pretty good jab but his left hook is a much better punch and he likes to dig it hard to the body.  Alvarez also has a nice straight right hand upstairs in his bag of tools and a looping right hand that is wide but lands hard.  Alvarez has heavy hands but he isn't a one punch knockout fighter, instead he breaks opponents down intelligently over the course of the fight.  Along with his heavy hands Alvarez also has heavy feet and does not move well around the ring.  For a guy who likes to let opponents take the lead he still remains aggressive and likes to plant his feet and trade inside before stepping back out of danger which he can do because of his good chin, but make no mistake about it there is nothing slick about the way Alvarez fights.  In the past Alvarez has struggled to make the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds and it has showed in the ring.  In previous fight Alvarez has faded in the middle rounds and also takes rounds off.  However when he is in top form he is a tough fighter for anyone not named Floyd Mayweather to beat.

For a long time Alvarez has been built up in the hope that he would become a superstar.  Golden Boy Promotions did a great job of putting him in with fighters he could beat but that also had good name recognition.  Alvarez has wins over Kermit Cintron and Shane Mosley when both were years past their primes but whose names look great on a young fighters record.  After that he beat an utterly undersized Josesito Lopez after his upset of Victor Ortiz in a fight Lopez had no business being in but it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.  Alvarez followed that lopsided win up by taking on his toughest challenger at that time, Austin Trout.  Alvarez dropped Trout in that bout and won via unanimous decision but it was closer than the scorecards made it seem.  Then came his mega fight against Mayweather and although he only lost by a majority decision it was pretty clear to everyone besides judge C.J. Ross that he had won a round.  Then came his last fight against Angulo when Alvarez looked sharper and stronger then ever.  At only 23 years old Alvarez already has a career record of 43-1-1 with a nice 31 knockouts.  Yet even though Alvarez is a very good fighter he isn't quite as good as his record would indicate.  Now like when he fought Mayweather he will be in the ring with a defensive minded counter puncher who could give the slower Alvarez problems.

Lara is one of the most avoided fighters in boxing

Lara is a southpaw from Cuba and like many Cuban fighters is very adept at hitting his opponent without being hit back.  He has long been talked about as one of the best junior middleweights in the world and he backs that praise up with his skills.  Unlike his counterpart Lara has very quick feet and moves around the ring as well as anyone.  Lara likes to fight from the outside unlike Alvarez who likes to trade in close and then move out of danger.  Lara has a very good crisp jab and short right hook that many opponents never see coming.  Lara also has a nice left hand that he doesn't use incredibly often which is probably his heaviest punch.  Like other Cuban fighters Lara isn't very busy in the ring and his best weapon is his defense and footwork but he will need to be careful not to be to complacent and give Alvarez rounds.

The only loss that Lara has suffered as a professional was to Paul Williams back in 2011.  Lara lost a majority decision but to everyone watching besides the judges it was clear he easily won the fight.  In fact Lara was landing his overhand left with such authority that is had HBO analyst Max Kellerman questioning if it was dangerous for Williams to even continue and that if he couldn't make adjustments he may need to retire.  Because of that most fans view Lara as an undefeated fighter but his record does stand at 19-1-2 with 12 knockouts.  That fight with Williams was one of the more impressive ones of Lara's career whose defense first style has left him with some frustrating draws.  He also has a win over Angulo but was dropped twice in that fight.  His last bout was against Trout and he looked masterful easily outboxing him.  Now Lara has the fight he has been campaigning for and a chance to become a household name.

Between their two common opponents Angulo and Trout its really a split.  Alvarez look pretty good against Trout but got caught a lot and it was a very close fight but against Angulo he was at his best and easily won.  As for Lara he was knocked down twice against Angulo before hurting Angulo's eye which forced him to quit and against Trout he was at his best sticking and moving.  This should be an interesting chess match because Alvarez will be landing heavier punches and throwing more of them but Lara should be landing the cleaner punches and will be much better defensively.  It really comes down to who the judges prefer the heavier punching busier fighter or the slicker fighter who lands cleaner shots.  One thing Lara needs to do is stay busy enough because if this is a close fight it will be the superstar Alvarez who comes out ahead.

PREDICTION: Because of his fan base and PPV numbers Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is a superstar and while he is a very good fighter he doesn't have the skills of Erislandy Lara.  Alvarez had major problems against Mayweather who made him swing and miss all night and Lara should be able to do the same and if he stays busy enough will win this fight by the way of split decision.