1. w SD 12 Erislandy Lara [2014]
REPORTEDLY against the advice of his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez elected to take on the highly-avoided master boxer Erislandy Lara, having suffered his first professional loss to Floyd Mayweather a year earlier.
‘Canelo’ was dominated by Floyd and badly struggled against the brilliant technician, and many felt the same could happen against the slick Cuban.
He was far more aggressive against Lara, but their opposing styles made for a dull fight which saw Erislandy constantly on the move while Alvarez stalked and landed the heavier blows. An uppercut on the inside cut Lara over his right eye, but Alvarez was taking a fair few shots himself.
The fight could have gone either way but two judges gave it to the Mexican, who had managed to come through a dangerous test against one of boxing’s elite operators.
Photo: Esther Lin/Showtime
