On July 12th, Saul Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara waged war on each other in a middleweight title match. Lara called out Canelo and the Mexican superstar told his handlers that the fight had to happen. That night, I followed the action on Twitter via my trusted source Dan Rafael of ESPN and other good boxing handles. Canelo won by split decision, winning 115-113 on one card and 117-111 on the insane card of judge Levi Martinez. What I witnessed was a split decision on the social media page. Half of the crowd liked Canelo’s second half resurgence enough to give it to him and the other half said Lara was robbed.

Last night, I watched the fight and scored it as I watched on my IPhone notepad page. I wrote notes down as I scored rounds and I will admit the style contrast in the fight led to these troublesome scoring and a fight that wasn’t entertaining at times and lacked a big moment. Without adding much, here is my live analysis. Keep in mind I don’t hold a special admiration for either fighter. I do like watching Canelo fight but don’t particularly pull for him like I do Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto. I hadn’t seen Lara fight that much so I was green on his action skills.

Lara and Canelo Scorecard

First round
Lots of jabs. Movement. Fleeting. Nothing big. Few flush from Lara.
-10-9 Lara

Second round
Canelo lands a few shots. Lara still sneaking in flush shots. Lara footwork is superb but Canelo seems to be chasing him. Running around a bit.
Close round. Edge to Lara
-10-9 Lara

Third round
Lara’s gameplan seems to be throw a combo and run around. He’s trying to bait Canelo. Not working but his punches are connecting. Lara comes in and hits Canelo flush. Lots of runnng but that’s Lara’s style. Canelo must adapt. You can see why Canelo handlers didn’t want him to take this fight. A toss up round goes to the challenger.
-10-9 Lara

Fourth round
Canelo is starting to impose his will. He’s pounding Lara’s body. He’s lunging and landing. Unlike previous rounds.  Landing some big shots on the body. Canelo misses a home run shot. Lara lands. A cut opens around Canelo’s eye. Still a good Alvarez round.
-10-9 Canelo

Fifth round
Combo from Lara lands right away.  Canelo missing early before a two punch body combo from Canelo. Body shots can be slowly crippling. Canelo doing that well. The body work from Canelo wins a close round.
-10-9 Canelo

Sixth round
Canelo chasing Lara around. Landing some and getting caught at times. Lara not throwing much though. Canelo loading up and not firing. Lara likes to move. Canelo doesn’t. Styles clash. Canelo working more. Doing more. Canelo pounding the body. He wins the round on it. Lara basically took a round off.
-10-9 Canelo

Seventh round
Canelo lands on the body. No combo though. Canelo lands an uppercut. A cut opens on Lara. Canelo chasing more but Lara not escaping as much.  Lara is not throwing much past couple rounds. Canelo lands an uppercut at the end. Lara is running at this point. Not fighting.
-10-9 Canelo

Eighth round
Canelo not tiring. Starting to catch Lara more. Lara in survival mode. He’s not throwing. He’s running from Canelo. Canelo landing body shots at will. Lands a combo. Canelo lands one straight to the gut. Solid jab. Lara looks more tired than Canelo. Easy Canelo round. Every time Canelo pulls the trigger, Lara flinches.
-10-9 Canelo

Ninth round
Every time Lara throws anything Canelo responds with a combo right back. Lara lands a combo. His arms actually work. Canelo lands more body shots. Lara slips. Runs. Canelo wins the round.
-10-9 Canelo

Tenth round
Crowd noise thickens. Lots of movement early on. Lara bouncing off the ropes and avoiding bombs. Lara isn’t throwing much but he’s landing more this round. Lara counters and lands. Canelo lands a body shot and a hook to the head. All in all close but Lara did enough.
-10-9 Lara

Eleventh round
Lara landing fleeting shots. Frustrating Canelo. He lands a combo and moves. A fight that hasn’t given fans a big moment but several smaller lighting shows. Canelo doesn’t land much.
-10-9 Lara

Twelfth round
Canelo comes out on the attack. He lands three thick body shots. Lara lands a good combo. Canelo throwing bombs and landing half of them on the body. Lara running. Literally. Lara throws a few. Canelo throws and misses. Lara lands a shot to the head while Canelo lands a body shot. Lara brushes Canelo’s head at the very end.
Toss up round goes to Lara
-10-9 Lara

A draw on my account. 114-114

I can understand a 115-113 card for either but the 117-111 scorecard for Canelo was pure lunacy. Neither fighter won that clearly. Its a tough fight to score because the crowd gets into it and Lara runs around and there was no big moment. I saw a great beginning for Lara followed by a great adjustment by Canelo only to be followed by Lara frustrating Canelo a little more late. All in all a draw for me but I don’t need to see the two guys fight again. It wasn’t that entertaining of a fight because of the style mismatch. While I ruled it a draw, the two fighters didn’t clash well and a rematch won’t happen. A street fight would suffice, Rocky V style!

Lara called out Canelo and in my opinion didn’t do enough to sway the judges and clearly win the fight. In this day and age, one must let their hands be the judge. If that isn’t Lara’s style, go fight Alfredo Angulo again and not lose. Change your style to fit the judges. They won’t change on a fighter’s account. Las Vegas is becoming Canelo’s stomping ground so I will admit a home town bias. One must do a lot to beat a bigger name unless your name is Timothy Bradley and C.J. Ross sneaks in to judge a fight. Boxing isn’t always fair and the fighters must adjust.

Canelo will go on and hopefully take on Miguel Cotto in what should be an action packed fight of the year bout in November. Lara will go home to Houston, celebrate the birth of his kid and go back to the drawing board. He may end up like Robert Guerrero and never get a chance at big time glory again. His future is more in doubt.