Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The scores are going to be debated, the winner will be debated. Canelo Alvarez took a split decision win over Erislandy Lara tonight on Showtime PPV.
Canelo Alvarez got the duke tonight over Erislandy Lara, but there's some controversy, as is often the case, though at least this time, it appeared there was a solid argument for either man to win. Official scores were 115-113 and 117-111 for Canelo, and 115-113 for Lara. BLH had it 115-113 for Lara, while Showtime's Steve Farhood had 115-113 for Lara, as well.
The fight saw several rounds that could have been called swing rounds, as I personally had at least five rounds of the 12 that I felt could have gone either way. I shaded toward Lara, who landed some crisp shots, but absolutely did "run" for much of the fight, while Canelo landed a lot of solid body shots along the way.
Neither Canelo (43-1-1, 31 KO) nor Lara (19-2-2, 12 KO) were particularly effective on offense, as Canelo swung and missed badly several times, while Lara sort of laid back more than you'd like to see. It's arguable that the fight was "stolen" from Lara. It's also arguable that Lara gave the fight away by not being more proactive.
Both fighters said they believed they'd won the fight when asked the hard-hitting question, "Do you think you won the fight?" by Showtime's investigative journalist Jim Gray. Lara said he felt he controlled the fight and made Canelo look bad. Before that, Canelo said he'd give Lara a rematch "when he learns to fight," saying that fights in the pro game in America are not won with running, and that he didn't let his hands go enough. Canelo did say, though, that he respected Lara. Lara added that Canelo's body shots had "no force," though they did connect.
This is certainly going to be debated in the coming days, so how did you score it?
No comments:
Post a Comment