Team Lara: Only The Judges, Not Canelo, Can Beat Us

By Rick Reeno

Luis DeCubas Jr., manager of WBA 'regular' junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12KOs), has reacted to some comments that appeared earlier on BoxingScene.com, from Chepo Reynoso, trainer and co-manager of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (43-1-1, 31KOs). Canelo vs. Lara is scheduled to headline a Showtime Pay-Per-View event on July 12th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"He opened his mouth a lot. I will tell you this, that he needs a lucky night to avoid getting knocked out - unless he gets on his bike and runs around all night. To me, Lara has an obligation to go out and fight, otherwise it will end badly. He said that he's from that [Cuban] school [of boxing] and all, but in Mexico there are no schools around - there are universities of boxing," Reynoso said to Salvador Rodriguez.

DeCubas doesn't want luck on July 12, he wants fair judging. He felt Floyd Mayweather Jr. dominated Canelo last September, but one judge somehow scored the fight a 114-114 draw.

"I don't believe in being lucky to win a fight. I believe in hard work and being prepared physically and mentally for fight night. From what I've seen Canelo's team overtrains him and overspars him. They need to focus on their game plan and being ready to win, not hope Lara gets lucky. On July 12th Lara will be ready to win and do it impressively.  The only ones who can beat Lara are the judges. All we ask for is fair fight on the scorecards and that Canelo isn't lucky enough to get another 114-114 card after being dominated. We just want a fair shake that's all we ask for the judges be fair and do a good job," DeCubas told BoxingScene.com. 

"Canelo is a tremendous young fighter and it's very possible that he graduated from a
boxing university but Lara has a masters degree in boxing from Harvard and on July 12
they will realize it was a huge mistake to fight Lara."