In a fight in which no scepter was at stake, Mexican former world champion Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez beat Cuban Erislandy Lara, current super welterweight champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA), by way of a split decision.
The fight, agreed to 12 episodes at the weight of 155 pounds (70.37 kilograms), was the main one at the Arena Garden of the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas (Nevada).
The judges gave scores of 117-111 and 115-113 for “Canelo” Álvarez, and 115-113 for Lara, with an attendance of 14,239 people.
In the fight, which had been speculated would be key for Álvarez, because if he won it, he would return to the opportunity to star in the big fights with high economic bags, or the long way of a series of medium or low caliber fights in case of losing it, he began to be deciphered in the sixth round when he was able to land good blows to Lara, who was highly mobile in the ring.
Before, both fighters tried to get the best scores with a Cuban who bet on the “direct” and his constant mobility of legs to get out of the danger zone, and an Álvarez who tried to attack without fully reaching the goal.
The mobility of Lara, 31, caused the Mexican to miss a series of clear blows especially in the third round, when Álvarez’s attack seemed to be shipwrecked.
At times when it became known that Álvarez was out of range, in the sixth episode he was able to connect the Cuban by boxing inside, avoiding Lara’s exits, and with continuous blows to the body.
In that assault Lara showed exhaustion and her legs began to lose strength due to the punishment that Álvarez was sending to the body and the liver area to deprive her of oxygen.
In the seventh episode, Álvarez’s tactic began to work and was able to cause Lara a wound to the eyebrow, and in the eighth and ninth he continued to punish him with blows to the body and face.
In the last three episodes it seemed that Lara was beginning to recover physically, but it was too late to equalize the scores.
Alvarez, 23, left his mark at 44-1-1 with 31 knockouts, and Lara saw his record drop to 19-2-2, with 12 knockouts, since turning pro.
“Canelo” Álvarez defeats Erislandy Lara by decision
