By: Hans Themistode

Although it’s been nearly a decade since Erislandy Lara fought a much younger Canelo Alvarez, the Cuban-born star is still incredulous by the final result.

In July of 2014, Alvarez, then a 154-pound contender, attempted to prove that he had grown since suffering defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather one year prior. With the newly inducted Hall of Famer boxing circles around the Mexican native, Alvarez believed that a win over an elite-level boxer such as Lara, would push his career in the right direction.

Ultimately, despite Lara believing that he had done more than enough to have his hand raised in victory, he was forced to swallow a highly controversial majority decision defeat. Although Lara has learned to live with the results, he still believes he was given a raw deal.

Even now, at the age of 38, Lara is of the belief that no matter who Alvarez faces from here on out, both himself and former stablemate, Jermall Charlo, are his most arduous combatants.

“Jermall Charlo and myself, we are the most complicated opponents for Canelo,” said Lara during an interview with George Ebro. “We are the most dangerous. With me [Canelo] lost.”

Before Alvarez officially signed up to take on WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Charlo was firmly entrenched as a possible foe for Alvarez. In the end, however, Alvarez opted against facing the current WBC 160 pound titlist, at least for now.

Regardless of Lara attempting to lure Alvarez back into the ring for a second time, the two are highly unlikely to run things back at this point in their respective careers.

Since suffering defeat against Alvarez, Lara strung together an undefeated streak from 2014 to 2017. Nonetheless, he would go on to lose once more against Jarrett Hurd in 2018, before picking up a split decision draw against Brian Castano in 2019 at 154 pounds.

With wear and tear, as well as age, kicking in, Lara has opted to move up in weight. During his first contest as a full-fledged middleweight in 2021, Lara scored a brutal one-punch knockout over Thomas LaManna. As for his next bout, Lara has a firm idea as to when he’ll step foot inside the ring again, but he’s unclear against whom.

No matter whom he faces, Lara will simply attempt to keep his momentum going, while keeping one eye on Alvarez.

“I feel good, thank God, in tremendous condition. They told me that I would fight again on May 7. Let’s see if it holds up, with God’s permission. It is the same day as Canelo Alvarez, but we will see what happens from here to there.”

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