Canelo Alvarez vs Erislandy Lara is, in my mind, the best style matchup of the year so far. Pacquiao vs Bradley, Mayweather vs Maidana, and Cotto vs Martinez were all thrilling fights, but none of them carried the same promise as this bout. Stylistically, Alvarez and Lara present problems for one another.
Lara, one of the best counter punchers in the sport and a nearly flawless boxer with an impressive Cuban pedigree, is in many ways the perfect fighter to capitalize on Canelo’s relative inexperience.
Canelo, on the other hand, is so well-rounded and versatile that he stands a better chance than anyone before him of catching Lara in one of his trademark lulls. No one in the sport has better combination punching that Canelo, and no one can boast the kind of talent for boxing that he shows already at the tender age of 23.
In this installment of Frame-by-Frame Fights, I break down the pressure game of Alvarez, which he’ll need to walk down and beat up one of the most dangerous opponents of his impressive career.
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