Wilder: Lara Already Beat Canelo, Golovkin Will Beat Him Too

By Edward Chaykovsky

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes Erislandy Lara (24-2-2, 14 KOs) did more than enough to win his 2014 clash with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs).

The fight, which took place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, was a close contest that saw Canelo walk away with a twelve round split decision win. The scores were 115-113 Lara, 115-113 Canelo and a score of 117-111 for Canelo - and that scorecard drew a lot of controversy, especially for ringside observers who felt Lara had done enough to win.

Currently both boxers are world champions in the junior middleweight division, with Lara holding the WBA/IBO titles and Canelo with the WBO.

A rematch will likely never happen, as Canelo and Lara appear to be heading in different directions.

Lara could be in line for future unification with WBC champion Jermell Charlo, who has a mandatory defense scheduled next month. Canelo will face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds on May 6th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

If Canelo wins, he is potentially going to face WBC, WBA, IBO, IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin in September.

If that fight happens, Wilder is siding with Golovkin to walk away with the victory.

"I like GGG in that fight, I just like how he’s calm and he likes to have fun. He understands that this is a dangerous sport but why not have fun doing it? We chose to do this, we chose to take these punches and it’s all about having fun sometimes while being serious. You have to know how to mix the two. When you can mix the two, you become a great fighter," Wilder told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

"I really like Golovkin in that fight and I think Lara beat Canelo already but they didn’t give it to him. They said that Lara ran, but basically what he did was... he did what it took to win the fight. I think he fought a great fight against Canelo that fight and I think Canelo took an ‘L’ that fight. With GGG you have a more aggressive guy who will bang in there with you, he’s not scared to throw any punches. I think Golovkin would be the tougher fighter in there and if I had to choose, I would go with him."