Saul “Canelo” Alvarez 43-1-1(31 KO) vs Erislandy "The American Dream" Lara 19-1(12 KO)
This may arguably be the most
intriguing fight in an action packed (I’ve said this too many damn times but I
mean it!) summer. Mexico vs Cuba! The arguable top 2 fighters in the Junior
Middleweight division square off on PPV and we shall see whose style prevails
on July 12th. This fight is one that many hardcore boxing fans have
requested for a relatively long time and now we are almost here. The thing
about this fight is that it most likely doesn’t occur if Lara doesn’t directly challenge
Canelo and anger him enough to demand his promoter make the matchup.
Recently, they both have faced
off against the same opponents, which has prompted people to create what we
know as the triangle theory. Angulo
knocked down Lara twice, so Canelo should easily be able to get to Lara and
knock him out. Canelo had a tough contest with Trout and Lara easily beat Trout
therefore Lara should easily outpoint and outbox Canelo. Well, we know from
boxing history that the triangle theory really doesn’t hold any weight (Foreman
should’ve annihilated Ali if that were the case) at all. Styles make fights. So
let’s get into their styles.
Canelo is truly a fighter people
transfer their hopes onto. They want him to be that dynamic come forward all
action fighter but he instead is actually more of a boxer-puncher type. He is a
good combination puncher with power but he doesn’t exactly throw very many
punches throughout fights. He has great speed and can be very dynamic at times
but because of his stamina issues (he practically gasses in every fight), he
chooses to sit back and expend less energy. I’ve also noticed that he doesn’t
mix offense and defense very well; it’s one or the other for Mr. Alvarez.
Lara is a guy nobody watches for
excitement really. He’s as technical a boxer as they come. Pure boxer. One
thing you can say about Lara is that he always sticks to his gameplan. He’s
always moving backwards no matter what you do (it’s why Trout looked so
terrible against him), you must be the one to engage the fight. With that said,
Lara has a very glaring weakness, which is his inside fighting. He has none
whatsoever and this has been exploiting a couple times, but due to his good
footwork and defense he hasn’t found himself in that much trouble in the pros.
This fight really is going to
come down to how much Canelo really wants to push the fight. He was really
aggressive against a lethargic looking Angulo in his last fight and ended up
stopping him. Angulo is no Lara, though. We know, from Lara’s history that he
isn’t going to change his gameplan and is going to stay on the move and be a
counterpuncher. I’ve seen enough to know that Canelo will still have his usual
stamina problems and issues with managing offense and defense. There will be
some opportunities if he’s willing to press the action and get inside like
Angulo did, but I highly doubt he’s going to want to take as many punches as
Angulo did last year. Lara is not going to stand in front of him and allow him
to get off like Angulo and other lesser fighters he has faced previously. Can
he cut the ring off and hurt Lara? I don’t believe so. I’m going with Lara here
because I think he’s the better boxer and the more consistent fighter in a
multitude of areas.
Lara +155
Now here are some of the undercard fights.
Johan Perez 19-1(13 KO) vs Mauricio Herrera 20-4(7 KO)
Coming off the loss to Danny
Garcia. HAHAHHAAHAHHAHA. Just kidding. Everyone watching, even Puerto Ricans
knew Garcia lost that fight to Herrera and only thanks to being the champion
and the more marketable fighter does Danny Swift still have his belts. Herrera really should be champ right now and
that sucks, but he has to move on and just keep on winning. This fight with
Perez would’ve been a good 1st title defense.
We know Herrera’s style. He has
zero power but he’s a really good boxer and mover. He’ll stick that jab in your
face for 12 rounds but he isn’t afraid to really mix it up, as evidenced in his
fights with Garcia and Provodnikov. Perez has a good record but watching his
fights, his punches are very wide and he has little to no defense. Herrera isn’t
some juggernaut, he does have 4 losses, but to a style like this he should have
little problem.
Herrera 12 round decision
Tomoki Kameda 29-0 (18 KO) vs Pungluang Sor
Singyu 46-2 (31 KO)
For the WBO Bantamweight Championship
of the world!!! I’d be lying to you if I said I actually watched much of these
lower division fights. I honestly would say that my true cut off is probably
126 if anything, but this has the potential to be a really good fight. They
have a common opponent in Paulus Ambundu. Ambundu took the WBO Bantamweight
title off of Singyu right after he had won it, and Kameda won it from Ambundu a
few fights later. One thing that struck me from watching each fighter is…wow is
Kameda a big bantamweight. Almost 5’8” tall (Compared to Singyu who’s listed at
5’1”). And Singyu, I notice that he fights in a somewhat hunched style. Might
be open for the uppercut if Kameda is willing to throw it.
I actually feel like Kameda’s
last fight with Immanuel Naidjala might be tougher than this one. They were
similar in stature and Naidjala appeared to have the speed and boxing advantage.
I don’t see that deficit here for Kameda. Singyu also doesn’t seem to possess
the angles of Naidjala and seems to stand right in front of his opponent. I see
a lot of body work and uppercuts from Kameda.
Kameda takes this.
Abner Mares vs Johnathan Oquendo
After coming off the shocking 1st
round ko against Jhonny Gonzalez, Mares needs a nice comeback here. Mares’
resume is far superior to Oquendo’s, and the 2 most notable fighters on Oquendo’s
record(Wilfredo Vasquez Jr and Juanma) both ended in knockout losses. Plus my
fingers are tired.
Mares by decision.
Juan Manuel “JuanMA” Lopez 34-3 (31 KO)
vs Francisco Vargas 19-0-1 (13 KO)
Juanma was on the fast track to
greatness a couple years ago after winning a couple of titles, but that was
halted by Orlando Salido by brutal KO. The rematch took place a year later and
the same thing resulted. A superfight with Yuriorkis Gamboa was supposed to
happen but because of these losses to Salido, the fight failed to materialize. Since
then it’s been an up and down path for Juanma and he’s been knocked out again,
recently, against star Super Featherweight, Mikey Garcia. He has power but gets
carried away and caught because of the amount of errors he always makes
forgetting defense.
Francisco Vargas is a former Olympian
and undefeated fighter who has recently stepped up in competition. Great body
puncher, loves the hooks. I don’t really see defense with this guy but he does
keep a high guard. He can be countered but apparently has a good chin at this juncture
of his career. He has a high activity rate though so that somewhat offsets his
lack of a real defense. I also don’t know if I really believe in his power, but
his last 3 step up fights have been against guys who haven’t been ko’d yet or
rarely have.
We have to remember, Juanma’s
only losses are to Orlando Salido(2x) and Mikey Garcia, 2 of the best fighters
in his weight class. With that said, I think the errors Lopez constantly make rear
their ugly head yet again in this fight and Vargas takes it with his activity. Juanma has been hurt just too much throughout
his career for me to believe in him.
Vargas by KO.
