Photo by Esther Lin / Showtime
On May 6, 2014, former WBC and WBA Junior Middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and WBA Junior Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara held a press conference to formally announce their July 12 pay-per-view showdown.
The conference was held at the Placita Olvera in Los Angeles, California and is the first of a four-city press tour that will make stops in San Antonio, New York City, and Puerto Rico
Alvarez will be making his return after a dominant ten-round stoppage of Alfredo Angulo, while Lara is returning from a unanimous decision victory over Austin Trout.
The bout will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be presented by Showtime Pay-Per-View.
“This fight against Erislandy Lara is very important for my career because it is an opponent with vast experience in both the amateur and professional field, and I am sure our fighting styles will provide an explosive battle and great atmosphere that night,” said Alvarez.
Indeed, Lara will bring a slick southpaw style to the ring on July 12–the kind of style that might give Alvarez some trouble. Alvarez seemed to have a bit of trouble against another slick southpaw in Austin Trout last April.
Lara, however, will be a tougher challenge for Alvarez and is confident in his ability to defeat him–confident enough to have been challenge Alvarez for several months.
“There’s nothing more to say. Everything’s done. July 12 we’re going to let the fists do the talking,” said Lara.
Despite the brevity of Lara’s press conference statements, it seems his getting the fight was partly caused by his activity on Twitter.
Lara had been insulting Alvarez for several months on Twitter, even stating that Alvarez “doesn’t have the heart of a Mexican, I don’t think he’ll fight me.”
.@caneloOficial No tienes corazon de Mexicano no creo que peleas! #cuba #México #WBA pic.twitter.com/Kn35VqTs9F
— Erislandy Lara (@Laraboxing) December 12, 2013
“He offended me so much on social media. He offended not only me, but all Mexican fighters by saying that Cuban fighters take all Mexicans to school,” said Alvarez, shortly after the press conference.
Lara’s Twitter antics finally culminated at the post-fight press conference for Alvarez’s win over Angulo when Lara approached the stage and challanged Alvarez.
Alvarez initially dismissed him but, according to Alvarez, his fans were begging for him to fight Lara.
“The fans really spoke up, they stood up, and they were heard. They basically said give it to him! He’s talking too much s***!,” concluded Alvarez. Header photo by Esther Lin / Showtime
