Canelo Focused on 'Tough' Lara, Not Cotto Clash

By Jose Luis Camarillo, notifight.com

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (43-1-1, 31KOs) made it clear that "big purses are very important" but "the most important thing is to make history. I work for that, I am very young and I want to make history."

On July 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Canelo will take on WBA 'regular' junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12KOs). Canelo continues to train in San Diego, California for what he expects to be a very dangerous challenge. 

"Every fight is key. I'm going against an opponent who is presumed to be the most dangerous at 154 pounds, that people categorize as such, and the fight is something that people want to see. I'm training for a very strong opponent, a very strong fight. He's a very tough opponent, he has everything to gain. He is left-handed with many qualities, he's dangerous. Maybe a lot of people do not know his name, but he might be tougher than other opponents who have stronger names. I've fought every style and we'll be ready to Lara," Canelo said.

Regarding the high possibility that he could be facing Miguel Cotto on the 6th or 13th of December, or a catch-weight fight against Manny Pacquiao, the student of Chepo and Eddy Reynoso said:

"These are rumors; but I'd love to fight them. The fight [with Lara] will be difficult, not because he is left-handed, but because of his difficult style. I'm going to be smart and beat him with intelligence. The challenge is to show progress."