Erislandy Lara is using a previous defeat to fuel his fire for the upcoming battle with Ramon Alvarez.
Just over five years ago, Lara dropped a split-decision to Ramon’s younger brother, Canelo, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Lara believes it was a fight he won, and the 36-year-old is using the loss to seek familial revenge this time around.
Lara has yet to rematch with Canelo, making the Ramon Alvarez battle on Saturday night a potential consolation prize — and one with the WBA “regular” junior middleweight title at stake — that could go a long way.
“It’s definitely revenge — more for me because I thought I won that fight and didn’t get the decision,” Lara told Sporting News.
The final tally from the Canelo loss — two scores of 115-113 plus a 117-111 for Canelo — remains in Lara’s memory and sparks an edge he will bring to Saturday’s bout in Minneapolis. The 154-pound fighter boasts a 25-3-3 record, including a couple of other decisions Lara believes should have resulted in wins.
Lara was on the losing end of a split-decision to Jarrett Hurd in a title unification fight in April 2018 as well as split-draw to Brian Castano in March. Lara is still under the assumption he was the victor in both matches.
“I feel like I never lost my belt (to Hurd),” Lara says, “and had a good opportunity in March in a fight that I felt like I won as well.”
Despite the tough decisions, Lara has no shortage of motivation moving forward and is already reflecting on his career legacy.
“Being a champion again motivates me. One thing when you look back on my career, you’ll see I fought everybody. I don’t care who it was that they put in front of me — I fought them.”
Lara’s route to cementing this legacy continues with a revenge opportunity Saturday.