What happened to Erislandy Lara, the “American Dream” and the only Cuban to have faced Canelo Álvarez?
One of the most challenging fights in Canelo Álvarez’s career took place against Cuban fighter Erislandy Lara.
Eleven years ago, Canelo Álvarez faced one of the toughest bouts of his career. The Mexican boxer went up against Cuban Erislandy Lara on July 12, 2014. In the end, the fighter from Jalisco claimed victory by majority decision.
The judges’ scorecards were 115-113 and 117-111 in favor of Canelo, while a third judge awarded the fight to the Cuban, 115-113, who still believes he won despite the official decision at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
“It was a great fight; I saw myself as the winner. Unfortunately, the judges didn’t see it that way, but that was 10 years ago—I’ve made peace with that fight,” Lara recently said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
A decade ago, Canelo beat the shit out of the boogeyman at 154, Erislandy Lara.#Boxing #MMATwitter pic.twitter.com/0w21MT9iRZ
— D H (@diegomayra) January 25, 2024
After the loss to Canelo, the second defeat of his career, Lara suffered another in 2018 when he faced Jarrett Hurd. In 2021, the Cuban reclaimed the vacant WBA title by knocking out Thomas LaManna in the first round.
Erislandy Lara sought a rematch against Canelo
Since then, Lara has fought three times and won all of them before the final bell. He first knocked out Gary O’Sullivan in May 2022, then Michael Zerafa in 2024, and in his most recent fight, against Danny García in September 2024, his opponent threw in the towel in the ninth round.
After Canelo’s loss to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022, Lara raised his hand for a rematch with the Mexican fighter. However, the sequel never came for the Cuban.
“Of course I would like a rematch with Canelo Álvarez for the fans. After the loss he had on Saturday, to rebuild his career he should face good fighters. I think I’m one of them. I think I deserve a second fight,” he told CNN in May 2022.
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