Extremely Late Boxing Report 7-12-14

[And lastly, to catch up on the half-written sports reports.]

I only watched this fight because a couple of co-workers actually went to it.  I console myself that, unlike them, I didn’t pay to watch this, though I’ll never that time back.  The image above is from the weigh-in, which said co-workers were at.  I had hoped they’d supply me with a few more pictures.  I kept waiting and it never happened.  So, between the lousy fight and waiting, that’s at least some of the reason I held off posting this.

Let’s get down to it.  Our main event featured Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara.  If you’re a Mexican fight fan, you know Canelo (one of said co-workers, female, adores him).  He’s the pretty boy face of boxing and a marketing juggernaut.  Lara, meanwhile, is a boxer.  That’s all I know about him.  (I think I just got ruined any chance of getting media credentials, didn’t I?)

For the walk out, Canelo’s crew was in matching orange jackets and hats, while the young man himself was wearing a Mexican Superman shirt.  I was surprised during the introductions that they mentioned one of the judges was from here in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  The crowd was highly partisan in Canelo’s favor, including one adorable little fan screaming her head off, while the man next to her, applauded politely.  (At least, that’s how I’m imagining it.)

Here we go:

1^st round, a little UFC as Lara’s arm hooked around Canelo’s neck and Canelo lifted him off the ground.

5^th round, Canelo was looking kind of ugly as Lara focused his attacks on his face.  Canelo was focused on attacking Lara’s mid-section.  He may not have gotten a good look at the guy with his shirt off.  Lara has an armored six-pack, which was probably why he wasn’t making an effort to guard himself there.

6^th round, Canelo had a really fiery outburst of swings.  I didn’t make note of which round, but one of the middle ones did feature the crowd booing loudly.  It seemed like they didn’t like the lack of action in the ring, since I didn’t notice any foul punches.  Canelo may have been trying to get the crowd back into it this round.

9^th round, Lara falls to a knee in the corner.  On replay, it looks like he was jumping back from a punch, hit the post, and slipped.  However, this event may have won Canelo the fight.

12^th round, the crowd was standing and cheering as the round started.  Canelo came out swinging.  He was definitely determined to win the round and may have thought he was in danger of losing the match.

The Decision: I don’t think anyone was surprised when a split decision was announced.  I’m assuming the Las Cruces judge was with Canelo, because otherwise the female co-worker would probably be after him when he got home.  Neither fighter had dominated fight.  There was a very dramatic pause as Canelo was finally given the decision.  He hadn’t looked that confident beforehand, and the crowd wasn’t either.  I might have given it a draw and wished I’d spent my time better.  The co-workers weren’t entirely pleased, but they had a nice trip anyway.  If you’re going to watch a lousy fight, at least do it somewhere interesting.