Photo by Gabriel Gonzalez
On July 12, 2014, the two best junior middleweights not named Floyd Mayweather will engage in a huge fight titled, “Honor and Glory.”
The stage and the non-title bout will be set for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as he will be squaring off against the WBA Junior Middleweight Champion, Erislandy Lara at the MGM Garden Arena.
It will be Canelo—the boxer-puncher—versus the slick and awkward southpaw counter-punching Lara.
Read on for an in-depth look in the three keys to victory for Canelo Alvarez against Erislandy Lara.
Precision Punching Power
Photo by Tom Casino
Against Lara—a very fast, defensive and a southpaw counter-puncher—Canelo is going to need to land and connect on high precision power punches.
This is where Canelo is going to need to connect and land some precision bombs against Lara’s body. Canelo will need to attack the body with smart aggression early and often in the bout.
A breakdown of total of power punches for Canelo’s last two opponents, Austin Trout and Alfredo Angulo, offers a good look into what Alvarez must do to give himself a good chance to win.
Against Trout, Canelo landed 96 out of 224 total power punches—per CompuBox Online—thus resulting in a 43 percent power punch rate.
In Canelo’s last fight against Angulo, the young Mexican connected 197 out of 309 total power punches, the result was an impressive 64 percent power punches.
Canelo is going need to land near 50 percent of his power punches to be effective in the fight. If he can connect with these bombs to the body early and often then he will take control of the bout.
Hand Speed
Canelo throws beautiful multiple-punch combinations and he will need to rely on his rapid trigger against Lara.
When Canelo can physically dominate and hurt his opposition by using his superior hand speed, he can put the icing on the cake.
Canelo’s hand speed will help him to counter punch against Lara. This will be a very good asset for his boxer-punching style against Lara.
In the fight against Austin Trout, Canelo connected on 124 out of 431 of his total punches, resulting in 29 percent connect percentage.
Against Alfredo Angulo, Canelo landed on 295 out of 513 total punches, producing a stellar 58 percent connect rate.
For Canelo, he needs to connect a solid 50 percent of his total punches thrown against the slick southpaw to be victorious.
Keep Showing Improved Defense
Alvarez’s entire body must move as one unit. It’s simply biomechanics and kinesiology of the human anatomy.
A boxer can’t physically move his location—in the ring—and his entire body without moving his legs. If Canelo shows improvements throughout the fight with his complete body movement, this will help him to be in a better offensive position.
By being in a better offensive position, Canelo will see more opening’s in Lara’s defense to throw and connect his beautiful multiple-punch combinations.
It could result in a devastating blow to Lara and cause a knockdown.
