(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) CANELO ALVAREZ
“It truly is an honor to be here amongst all of you. Whenever I am doing anything in boxing, San Antonio is on my list because you guys treat me like family.
“I am going to prepare myself like always to give everyone a great fight. This is the fight the fans have been asking for and I am going to prepare myself for a great victory.
“I love it here and I’d love to fight in San Antonio later this year. Thank you very much.”
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) LOS ANGELES (May 6, 2014) – A four-city, four-day, whirlwind press tour for “HONOR & GLORY: Canelo vs. Lara,” a highly anticipated event headlined by a showdown between former WBC and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez and WBA Junior Middleweight World Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara, commenced Tuesday at El Pueblo Historical Monument in Los Angeles.
Hundreds of fans and media members turned out for the Golden Boy Promotions open-to-the-public press conference that also was streamed live in High Definition across multiple SHOWTIME platforms, including via satellite feed, YouTube, Ustream and sports.sho.com/live.
Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez will square off against WBA Junior Middleweight World Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara in a 12-round bout. The event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV.
Lara was originally scheduled to defend his WBA title against Ishe Smith on Friday, May 2 in Las Vegas to kickoff Cinco de Mayo Weekend withdrew from the fight to face Canelo.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO’s) and Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) will be fighting in the three months on Showtime pay-per-view on July 12th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oscar De La Hoya revealed the information earlier today, and Lara’s previously scheduled May 2nd title defense against Ishe Smith has been canceled to free Lara up for the Canelo fight.
“Ready! July 12, 2014 – Canelo vs. Lara. We are going to give you want you want,” Canelo said on his social media site.
“Canelo official, July 12! We will find out what the kid’s got. This one is for my fans!!” – said Lara.
You’ve got to give Canelo a ton of credit for taking this fight, because he looked totally over-matched recently in his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September.
With no one for him to fight that would gain him any respect from the boxing public, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO’s) says that he’s offered WBA junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) fight for July 12th, but here’s the kicker: Lara will only have two months in between his May 2nd title defense and the July 12th fight to get ready.
So in other words, if Lara is going to have very little time to get ready for the 23-old Canelo, and if he suffers so much as a scratch in the Ishe Smith fight, then his title defense against Canelo will go down the drain.
LAS VEGAS (March 25) – Las Vegas will be the center of the boxing universe Cinco de Mayo weekend and kicking it off will be an action-packed night of fights at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino when FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes feature a tripleheader that includes two World Championship bouts just one night before “THE MOMENT: Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana” takes place at MGM Grand. In the 12-round main event, the WBA Super Welterweight title is on the line when Cuban star Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara defends the belt against Las Vegas’ own former World Champion Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith.
Plus, rising lightweight star Mickey “The Spirit” Bey Jr. will meet hard-hitting Mexican veteran Alan “Explosivo” Herrera in a 10-round matchup and in the televised opener, Argentina’s Jesus Cuellar squares off with former World Champion Rico Ramos in a 12-round bout for Cuellar’s WBA Interim Featherweight World Title.
(Photo By Al Applerose) HOUSTON, TX (March 13, 2014) – Super Welterweight sensation, Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (19-1-2, 12 KOs) has been elevated to World Champion by the WBA (World Boxing Association) after successfully defending his interim title against Afredo Angulo (22-4, 18 KOs) and Austin Trout (26-2, 14 KOs). The Cuban born fighter, who now resides in Houston, Texas, is happy that the WBA has made their decision to make him a World Champion.
“I applaud the WBA for their decision to make me a world champion and I want to send a special thank you to a good friend of mine Gilberto Mendoza from the WBA,” said Erislandy Lara. “I’ve never had anything come easy to me. I’ve fought everyone that has been offered to me with no hesitation. All I want is an opportunity to prove I’m the best fighter in the division. I’ve worked my entire life to become a world champion and now the dream has come true. I’m truly living the American Dream and I love this country that I now call home.”
How about you @gggboxing me fight you anytime! #badboyvsgoodboy
— Erislandy Lara (@Laraboxing) February 9, 2014
If WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KO’s) is still looking for an opponent for his his next fight on April 26th then he might want to consider facing junior middleweight Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s), because the Cuban fighter is very interested in facing him judging by his above challenge. Golovkin still hasn’t found an opponent for his April fight at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Light-middleweight hotshots Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout traded verbal jabs ahead of their crunch Brooklyn world title showdown, live on BoxNation.
The pair were speaking ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated bill, taking place at the Barclays Center in New York, and headlined by Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah, with the Brooklyn natives set to tussle for bragging rights.
Nevertheless, the stacked undercard features no fewer than three world title fights, with IBF welterweight ace Devon Alexander defending his belt against undefeated Shawn Porter and Sakio Bika putting his WBC super-middleweight crown on the line against hard-hitting Anthony Dirrell.
Erislandy Lara – Hi everyone. I’m working very hard in the gym. Thank God that everything is going great. Just waiting for the date of the fight, but everything is going very, very good moving forward.
Austin Trout – Well, I want to thank God for the opportunity to get right back to the position where I left, where I felt I belonged. A fighter like Lara is right there in my resume to be fighting the best and being the best.
Q – Hi, guys. Thanks for taking the time to do the call. First question is for Mr. Trout. Austin, I’d like your assessment of Erislandy Lara. What does he bring to the table? What do you think of him technically and how do you plan to beat him?