Easton, PA (June 19th, 2014) – With a little less than a month to go, Canelo Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KOs) will be taking on Cuban sensation, Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The undercard will feature Juan Manuel Lopez (34-3, 31 KOs) who is coming off a 2nd round knockout win against former foe, Daniel Ponce De Leon. Lopez will be taking on Francisco Vargas (19-0-1, 13 KOs) who meet in a 10 round Super Featherweight clash (130 lbs) for the WBO International title. Vargas is coming off a 10 round Unanimous Decision win against Abner Cotto, Miguel Cotto’s cousin.
The opening bout will feature Mauricio Herrera (20-4, 7 KOs) who was last seen in March taking on, who most regard as the No.1 fighter at Jr Welterweight (140 lbs.) Danny Swift Garcia, in which Herrera lost a highly disputed Unanimous Decision to the champ in Puerto Rico, where Garcia fought for the first time. Herrera returns to take on former Yoshihiro Kamegai, who Is slated in the main event, Johan Perez (19-1-1, 13 KOs) in a 12 round Jr Welterweight title fight where, Perez will defend the Interim WBA Jr Welterweight title.
Before squaring off in the squared circle July 12, Golden Boy along with the fighters held a conference call to speak in regards to the PPV Undercard. The Golden Boy himself opened up the call with the following remarks,
“The fighters on the undercard are exceptional fighters that I am pleased to introduce today. “
“I am excited to present a boxing card that is being shown in movie theaters across the U.S “
De La Hoya then introduced Herrera,
“I’m proud to introduce a fighter who I’m really fond of. “
“He’s a hard worker, he’s a tremendous puncher, a great boxer, eager to get back in the ring. “
Not known to be a puncher or knock out artist, Herrera expressed desire to secure a stoppage win for this upcoming bout,
“I’m eager to get back in the ring, I mean business, I want to show the fans I’m ready to get back in the ring. “
“We’re looking for a stoppage, we are going to stop Johan if possible.”
“I’m not a power hitter but anything can happen. “
Mauricio talks about the Garcia loss, and goes on to say it was frustrating to get over the controversial loss,
“I’m not over it. “
“It was frustrating for a while; I wasn’t surprised at the decision because nobody ever expected anything out of me.”
Herrera, who is always the underdog in his big fights, after the performance with Garcia looks to be the A side against Perez,
“There is no pressure, even after the Garcia fight.”
“I’m always ready to give a great fight but I have to fight a smart fight.”
Johan, who was disconnected from the call for a bit, did not have much to say,
“I’m content to be here, I’m looking forward to give spectacular performance against Herrera.”
“Training is going good, sparring has been good. I’m working on the jab, defense and countering.”
The other bout on the card features Juan Ma Lopez, who says he feels rejuvenated after the Ponce De Leon fight,
“I was coming off a loss to Mikey Garcia so a lot of people were not giving me a chance but I didn’t listen to them, I only listened to my team. “
“I may have gone down but I won by knockout, boxing is a dangerous sport and you have to accept what comes with the territory.”
Juan Ma expresses his desire to win a world title again, following the foot steps of Miguel Cotto who is Puerto Rico’s only champion at the moment,
“I’m very motivated to put on a great performance, I’m looking forward to perhaps winning a world title again. Winning this fight will put me there.
It was recently noted that Orlando Salido will be fighting for a world title again soon in Mexico, when asked about a potential 3rd fight, Lopez expressed wanting to beat Salido, especially after the 2 knockout losses, he feels confident he has all the tools and skills to beat Salido,
“Right now the champ is Mikey Garcia, but I am welcomed to a 3rd fight with Salido. I feel I was dominating and winning but we had a little problem.”
“I have a new team now, so we can work on it.”
El bandido, who was a bit over shadowed by Lopez says he is just happy to be on this stage, on a card of this magnitude,
“I’m coming with everything, the fans will be happy. We know the whole world will be watching so I am motivated to be on this card.”
The 12 round bout between Lopez and Vargas is a famous Mexico vs. Puerto Rico fight that Vargas seems pleased to be a part of,
“I’m happy to be apart this kind of fight, with the ongoing war in boxing with Mexico and Puerto Rico.”
“I’m here in Mexico City, very focused and very motivated for the fight.”
“I know he has experience but that is why we’re working hard with our sparring partners and training.”
When De La Hoya was asked about the expectations of how well the pay-per-view would do in respect to Canelo’s 1st A-side Pay-Per-View, De La Hoya stated, “I fully expect it to do more than 350,000 buys. I think Canelo can be on the level of stardom that I was or that Mayweather was. The sport is in good hands with Canelo.”
Honor & Glory Canelo vs. Lara, 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 PPV event will be distributed live on Showtime PPV beginning at 9 PM ET/ 6 PM PT
