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TIX INFO For Canelo-Lara

Published

7 years ago

May 6, 2014

CANELO ALVAREZ TO FACE ERISLANDY LARA ON SATURDAY, JULY 12 AT THE MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA IN LAS VEGAS LIVE ON SHOWTIME PPV^®

TICKETS GO ON SALE TODAY AT 10 AM PT

LAS VEGAS (May 6, 2014) – The two best junior middleweights in the world will meet to decide 154-pound supremacy Saturday, July 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez will square off against WBA Junior Middleweight World Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara in a 12-round bout. The event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV.

Lara was originally scheduled to defend his WBA title against Ishe Smith on Friday, May 2 in Las Vegas to kickoff Cinco de Mayo Weekend withdrew from the fight to face Canelo.

“This fight against Erislandy Lara is very important for my career because it is an opponent with vast experience in both the amateur and professional field, and I am sure our fighting styles will provide an explosive battle and great atmosphere that night,” said Canelo Alvarez. “Lara, the media and the fans around the world wanted this match to take place, and here I am fulfilling their request since I have no doubt that everyone will be completely satisfied.”

“I give Canelo respect for accepting this fight, and even though it took him a while to step up, we’re going to give the fans a great performance on July 12,” said Lara. “I’m coming to show the world I’m the best fighter at 154 pounds. This is the biggest fight of my career, and beating Canelo will get me closer to my ultimate goal, a showdown with Floyd Mayweather.”

“Canelo has always been a true warrior who insists on fighting the best, and this is just another example,” said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions. “Beating Erislandy Lara is a huge challenge for any fighter, but if anyone is up to the task, it’s Canelo.”

“Canelo vs. Erislandy Lara, a fight between the two best junior middleweights in the world, is yet another great example of the competitive, highly compelling and star-studded marquee matchups that SHOWTIME has become known for,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “We are proud to see Canelo Alvarez continue his quest to take on the best boxers in the sport today. Lara, one of most skilled boxers in any division, is highly motivated by his own quest for a career-defining victory. I commend both Canelo and Erislandy for stepping up to the challenge and delivering the fight that boxing fans want.”

“We have already had the opportunity to host a number of sensational fights in 2014,” said Richard Sturm, president of Entertainment & Sports for MGM Resorts International. “The summer heats up with another great event as we welcome the return of Canelo Alvarez to MGM Grand following his dominating performance in March.”

On a collision course for years, the highly anticipated matchup between Lara and Canelo will finally come to fruition following big wins over Austin “No Doubt” Trout and Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo, respectively.

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KOs) is one of the most compelling figures in the fight game today. A former world champion and still just 23-years-old, Canelo has captivated fans around the world with his exciting fighting style and charisma in and out of the ring. A professional since 2005, Canelo won the WBC Junior Middleweight Title in 2011 and successfully defended it five times before unifying the championship with a 2013 victory over Austin Trout. A mega-fight with Mayweather followed five months later. Although he lost a hard-fought decision to the pound-for-pound king last September, Canelo got back on track in March with a 10^th round-technical knockout win over Alfredo Angulo.

Slick southpaw Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (19-1-2, 12 KOs) graduated from the renowned Cuban amateur boxing program and migrated to the United States to pursue a professional boxing career. As a young contender on the rise, Lara suffered a controversial decision loss to Paul Williams in 2011. Since then, he has done his best to take it out of the judges’ hands by knocking out Ronald Hearns and Angulo, with the latter victory earning him the WBA Junior Middleweight World Championship. In his most recent bout, Lara won a 12-round unanimous decision over Trout on Dec. 7, 2013, and now the 31-year-old, who makes his home in Houston, will attempt to give Canelo a boxing lesson on July 12.

“Canelo vs. Lara,” a 12-round junior middleweight fight taking place Saturday, July 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. The event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Tickets priced at $750, $500, $250, $150, $75 and $50, not including applicable service charges and taxes, are on sale now. Tickets are limited to eighteen (18) per person with a limit of eight (8) at the $75 and $50 price ranges. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

6 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

6 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

6 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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