July can’t come soon enough for combat sports fans as two consecutive weeks will feature two world-class events. The fourth of July weekend will see a dual headliner for UFC 175 with two championships on the line (find out preview for that event here).
Then, on July 12, boxing will have its answer in the form of Alvarez and Lara. When these two meet in the ring, blood, sweat, and tears will literally trickle down to the canvas, promising violence from bell to bell.
Read on for a breakdown of this blockbuster match between two of the best young talents in boxing, and create a betting account now to get bets down on all the fighting action this month.
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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Erislandy “El Oro de Guantanamo” Lara Betting Preview
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Erislandy “El Oro de Guantanamo” Lara is a match made in heaven. Not only do the two boxers represent a heated rivalry between Mexico and Cuba, they also match up very excitingly in terms of their strengths and weakness. We get a hard-nosed Mexican boxer in the form of the young, powerful Alvarez, while Lara looks to represent the quality of Cuban amateur boxing with his technical, defensive prowess.
Betting on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez disappointed many after a lackluster effort in his fight against the best pound-for-pound fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr. back in September. To prove doubters wrong, he showcased the aggression he is known for in dismantling the hard-nosed Alfredo Angulo on the way to a 10th round TKO win. Alvarez is also no stranger to welcoming all challengers, that’s why he took a high-risk, low-reward match against the pesky Erislandy Lara.
[sc:Other240banner ]Alvarez is a proud practitioner of the Mexican style of boxing. The style requires Alvarez to be constantly defending in the pocket by just taking a few steps back, covering up, or just rolling with the punches. It is a risky and entertaining take-one-to-give-one style of boxing that has paid him dividends in his 45-fight career.
Alvarez’s strength as a power puncher forces him to be the aggressor in most fights. Aside from offering just one-off shots that are packed with power, Alvarez utilizes multiple-punch combinations to fluster his opponents. If his opponents cover up, he’ll just unload on their wide-open bodies with powerful hooks and uppercuts.
Against a highly-mobile opponent, Alvarez will need to control the center of the ring and push his opponent to the ropes. Doing so will give Alvarez plenty of chances to land his combinations to the head and body. If he fails to do so, then he may find himself in a defensive shell and get out-boxed to a decision much like his bout with Mayweather.
Betting on Erislandy “El Oro de Guantanamo” Lara
Erislandy Lara is a talented southpaw who possesses a mean left cross. He represents the Cuban amateur system which emphasizes defense and skill, rather than on raw power alone. Lara’s amateur background brought him to a silver medal at the 2005 Moscow World Cup as well as the gold medal at the 2005 World Amateur Championship in Mianyang.
Lara translated his amateur boxing background into a qualtiy 22-fight professional career. He uses superior movement to land his vaunted left cross against the opposition struggling to catch up to him. Despite having a conservative style, Lara has proven he has power too with 12 knockouts in 19 wins.
However, Lara’s movement and style has given him the tendency to stay on the outside and repeatedly get pinned on the ropes. Lara also gets caught cruising deep into fights and has paid for it dearly with a controversial majority-decision loss to Paul Williams and draws with Carlos Molina and Vanes Martirosyan.
Sleeping on opponents also had Lara in trouble against the hard-hitting Alfredo Angulo. After outboxing Angulo for the most part of the first three rounds, Lara left himself open to a left hook that sent him crashing to the canvas in the fourth round. He rallied, but was once again put on his backside in the ninth round.
Lara may have come back to win that fight by unanimous decision, but opening himself up like that against Alvarez would lead to a quicker finish.
Writer’s Prediction
Erislandy Lara is the better technical boxer; however Canelo Alvarez possesses just enough power and grit to get past the technicalities of his opponent. Expect each one to stagger the other, but take Alvarez -175 to have the last laugh.
