Mexican boxer Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez agreed to fight Erislandy Lara just to "shut his mouth" after the Cuban made strong statements against the Tapatío.
During his promotional tour through the city of New York, Canelo said that in previous occasions he had rejected the proposal to fight Lara because he was not a known opponent, popular and with an established name; however, once he started talking he caught the attention of fans, reason for which he has accepted to fight him.
"I think agree a year ago because nobody knew Lara's name, people didn't ask for it, it wasn't until he started fighting and he has talked so much that people got interested and in the end we agreed," stated Canelo Álvarez, former welter weight world champion in New York.
Álvarez, visibly annoyed, said that Lara has insulted him and all Mexicans, by saying that he would "teach him and the Mexican school a lesson", a challenge the Tapatío could not ignore and will seek to make the Cuban eat his words by beating him in the ring and showing him the quality of Mexican boxing.
"He insulted me, and not only me, but all Mexicans, he said he's going to teach me a lesson, a lesson to the Mexican school, let's see if it's true," said the Mexican boxer. "The Cuban school is very technical, it has some very good fighters, but Mexico has great fighters and it's disrespectful for us Mexicans. He's a strong fighter, technical, I think up there on the ring, I'm strong, the best will win that day. I'm happy to lead the PPV and give people what they want," he added.
On his part, the 31 year old Cuban fighter, world champion said that if he hadn't challenged Canelo, the Mexican would have definitely ignored him.
The fight between Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez and Erislandy Lara will take place on July 12 in the Arena Garden at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.