In Lara's Defense

[QballLobo]

After the first round I thought maybe Canelo hadn't learned from the Mayweather fight. But then he came out and forced the action and it was his fight. I like how he seemed to know that once he got close Lara was going to try and turn him so Canelo would just throw a right. Sometimes it missed but sometimes it landed beautifully and threw off Lara's timing and pace. Lara knew coming in what he had to do to get a win and he wasn't willing to do it. He and his team have no one to blame but themselves.

[boxing maniac]

Canelo is not a power puncher never has been just let cuz it looks like he's throwing power punches don't mean he hits harder than Kirkland or angulo. I will never be convinced that Angulo didn't sellout in his fight with Opie

[arraamis]

1.) Lara should have known or been told that he will be facing a pro-Mexican crowd and possibly a few pro-Mexican judges as well. There is no way he was going to be given a fight against Canelo fighting the way that he did.
Strike #1

2.) Lara ran entirely too much. Sure he was landing some very good shots and moving, which is his M.O. but to win against Canelo, you need to be the aggressor and at least give the appearance that you're taking the fight to him. Giving Canelo the aggression edge along with running around the ring is not going to get it done in the EYES of the judges.
Strike #2

3.)Lara avoided engagements at every opportunity and chose to move and jab. Again, this gives Canelo the edge in the eyes of the judges because it seemed that Canelo came to fight and Lara didn't.
Strike #3

For some to raise the fact that even a smaller Floyd fought Canelo better and more forceably than Lara speaks volumes -- Because he did!!!
And one would have expected Lara to fight more and run less since he had more size to his favor.

I was rooting for Lara, but IMHO the best man won the fight. And I'm discounting the wide margin given by the favoring judge 117-111 because that wasn't fair to Lara who at best deserved 115-113 or 113-115. This was a fight that was a contrast of styles and Lara's style was less effective in the eyes of the ones who scored the fight. Still it was close and not the one-sided event that the 117-111 score would imply.

[The Big Dunn]

I picked Canelo but thought lara won 115-113.

It's not lara's job to make it easy for canelo, it's canelos job to hunt him down and beat him no matter what.

[Suavecito80]

he didnt look bad in beating trout and he looked as good as anybody could against a guy who refuses to engage

This is where knowing how to cut off the ring comes in to play. Something Canelo has no idea how to do.

[phatcatboxing]

Oh, from a technical and ability stand-point I agree fully.

I'm talking purely about the power. Canelo threw plenty of body shots at Mayweather, landed a good few and also hit a lot of arms/shoulders and yet despite his huge size advantage, at no point did his strength/power even remotely make an impact.

Canelo looks huge and extremely powerful, but I don't know if he's close to as powerful as he looks.

Mayweather's general toughness is criminally underrated and in interviews since he has said that Canelo hit him with body shots that he can feel to this day.

[pesticid]

This is where knowing how to cut off the ring comes in to play. Something Canelo has no idea how to do.

Cutting the ring is not always the best idea, Margarito never knew how to cut the ring either, or maybe he didn't want to.

One thing about cutting a ring against a guy with such great footwork and sharp punches is that you're exposing yourself for even more counters. Smart work by Alvares, he made a few errors when he tracked down Lara to try to think with him and paid for those but he learned.

[Suavecito80]

Cutting the ring is not always the best idea, Margarito never knew how to cut the ring either, or maybe he didn't want to.

One thing about cutting a ring against a guy with such great footwork and sharp punches is that you're exposing yourself for even more counters. Smart work by Alvares, he made a few errors when he tracked down Lara to try to think with him and paid for those but he learned.

Margarito would just walk through punches. Terrible comparison. He didn't care about getting hit as long as he got to land. Canelo fights nothing like that.

[bojangles1987]

I don't think Lara was worried about Alvarez's offense as much as he has that ****** problem of waiting for the perfect single shot rather than trying to score and win rounds convincingly. It's so frustrating to watch him, knowing he'd easily win some rounds if he lets his hands go, but he won't.

[Konstantin]

I don't think Lara was worried about Alvarez's offense as much as he has that ****** problem of waiting for the perfect single shot rather than trying to score and win rounds convincingly. It's so frustrating to watch him, knowing he'd easily win some rounds if he lets his hands go, but he won't.

Or maybe he doesn't let his hands go because he knows he will get hit in return.