Photo: Ray Spencer – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions — Before he steps into the ring to face Mexican-superstar Canelo Alvarez, WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara worked out for the media and talked about his upcoming PPV main event on “Honor & Glory”.
Lara on if he was surprised that Canelo took the fight…
“Originally I thought he would never take the fight because I confronted him in person and he said, ‘No this is not how you make fights.’ Then after the fans saw that he was ducking me on Twitter, he had no choice but to be a man and take the challenge.”
Lara on what he has to do differently in this fight…
“Nothing has to change. I just need to do the same things I always do and train. If I focus on training to win, there’s no one in the world that can beat me.”
Lara on what a win against Canelo means to him…
“It means everything to me. For me to demonstrate to the world that I’m not just better than him, but that I’m 150 percent better than him, means everything to me. Like I said before, I’m going to take him to Cuban school.”
Lara on Canelo saying he was scared and trembling when he approached him after the Mayweather fight…
“He’s talking nonsense. He knows I’m not scared of anyone so he’s trying to pump himself up to make him believe that I’m scared of him. The fact is he’s a very insecure fighter who knows he’s going to lose. For him to say these things is a bad sign for him. He’s lost and confused.”
Lara on why Canelo refused to fight for the belt and if he felt disrespected…
“Canelo can’t make the weight so he refused to fight for the title. It’s very disrespectful and my motivation to beat him has increased because of it.”
Lara on fighting Floyd Mayweather in one of his last three fights…
“Right now my focus is on Canelo and once I beat him then I’ll be looking at other options. For sure 100 percent I want Floyd Mayweather after this fight. He’s considered the best fighter in the world and I want to be the first one to dethrone him.”
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“Honor & Glory: Canelo vs. Lara” a 12-round junior middleweight fight taking place Saturday, July 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the co-main event Abner Mares returns to face Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Oquendo in a 10-round featherweight bout. In the SHOWTIME PPV opening bout, Johan Perez defends his interim WBA World Junior Welterweight Title against Mauricio Herrera in a 12-round match up. Also featured, Juan Manuel “JuanMa” Lopez meets Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas of Mexico in a 10-round bout for the WBO International Super Featherweight Title.
Tickets are still available at the $750, $500, $250, $150 and $75 price ranges, not including applicable service charges. Tickets are limited to eighteen (18) per person with a limit of eight (8) at the $75 price ranges. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
The event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP). For information visit www.SHO.com/Sports. Canelo vs. Lara will be shown on the big screen in movie theaters across the country via Fathom Events. Information will be available at www.fathomevents.com.
