Draw might have been the fairest result between Canelo and Lara at the MGM Grand, writes Bobby Hunter

IT seems to happen almost every time in a big fight where at least one boxing judge puts in a scorecard which leaves the fighters, media, and fans scratching their heads, wondering how the hell they came up with that score. Canelo Alvarez against Erislandy Lara was always going to be a close fight, the odds before the fight reflected this; Canelo was a slight favourite although many doubted the talented Mexican boxer-puncher had the style to beat the extremely awkward Cuban southpaw whose only loss was a disputed one vs Paul Williams.

Well, judge Levi Martinez’s score of 117-111 for Alvarez was way out of line with the other two tallies as the favourite scored the split decision victory at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Both Jerry Roth (115-113 Lara) and Dave Moretti (115-113 Alvarez) had this fight the way the vast majority of media and fans had scored it. The scoring by Mr Martinez certainly needs looking at and according to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review Journal the Nevada State will be doing this.

The fight went as expected as Canelo went after Lara from the first bell, trying to close the distance by aiming hard hooks at the Cuban’s mid section. Lara’s best weapon early, his leg speed, is what kept him out of trouble for spells in the fight but it was inactivity that probably cost him as Canelo was always the aggressor. I had the fight level after six as Lara was picking Canelo off with the straight lefts coming off a jab that seemed to bother Canelo early. From the get-go Canelo was hunting the body, trying to slow Lara down, and that looked to have an effect as in the second half of the fight Canelo got closer as Lara became more interested in moving rather than throwing punches.

As the fight hit the last two rounds neither fighter could have been certain they were ahead but again it was Canelo that upped the pressure chasing Lara around the ring, he certainly looked the fresher and being able to re-hydrate to 171lbs from the contracted 155lbs weight limit for this fight looked to be the difference. For this fight Canelo was paid $1.5m with additional money from PPV. Lara made a career high purse of $1m.

Below is 89 media scores along with my full scorecard, punch stats and an average score from all the media scorecards.

Bobby Hunter’s Scorecard:

Round 1…. 10-9 Lara

Round 2…. 9-10 Canelo

Round 3…. 10-9 Lara

Round 4…. 9-10 Canelo

Round 5…. 10-9 Lara

Round 6…. 9-10 Canelo

Round 7…. 10-9 Lara

Round 8…. 10-9 Lara

Round 9…. 9-10 Canelo

Round 10.. 10-9 Lara

Round 11.. 9-10 Canelo

Round 12.. 9-10 Canelo

TOTAL : 114-114 DRAW

Compubox Punch Stats;

Canelo – 415 Punches Thrown , 97 Landed , 23 per cent connect rate

Lara – 386 Punches thrown, 107 landed, 27 per cent connect rate

Average Score From 89 Media Members:

***114-114 DRAW***

34 Scored for Canelo – 39 per cent

30 Scored for Lara – 33 per cent

25 Scored a Draw – 28 per cent

Boxing Media Scores:

Barry Jones (Boxnation TV) : 114-114 DRAW**

Ryan Burton (Boxingscene) : 116-112 Canelo

Lyle Fitzsimmons (CBS Sports) : 115-113 Lara

Victor M Salazar (ThaBoxingVoice) : 114-114 DRAW**

Matthew Mojica (TheFightSource) : 115-113 Lara

Anthony Largar (BadLeftHook) : 115-113 Lara

Adam Canavan (BoxingMadMag) : 116-112 Lara

The Title Fight : 115-113 Lara

All About Boxing : 115-113 Canelo

Kevin Iole (Yahoo) : 114-114 DRAW**

Mark Ortega (BehindTheGloves) : 115-113 Lara

Steve Carp (Las Vegas Review Journal) : 114-114 DRAW**

Alex Morris (KTC Boxing) : 115-113 Lara

Phil D Jay (WorldBoxingNews) : 116-112 Canelo

Eric Raskin (ESPN + HBO) : 114-114 DRAW**

The Boxing Expert : 115-113 Canelo

Danny Flexen (Boxing News) : 117-113 Canelo

Adam Abramowitz (Saturday Night Boxing) : 115-113 Canelo

David Greisman (Boxingscene) : 115-113 Canelo

Lance Pugmire (LA Times) : 115-113 Canelo

Daniel Vano (Checkhookboxing) : 115-114 Canelo

Steve Bunce (Boxnation TV) : 115-113 Canelo

Steve Lillis (Boxnation TV) : 114-114 DRAW**

Boxing Hype : 115-113 Lara

Brian Campbell (ESPN) : 115-113 Lara

Matthew McEvoy (Forever Sports) : 114-114 DRAW**

Steve Farhood (Showtime TV) : 115-113 Lara

Corey Quincy (Freelance) : 115-113 Lara

Andy Paterson (BoxingAsylum) : 114-114 DRAW**

Jake Donovan (BoxingScene) : 114-114 DRAW**

Wolfgang Schiffbauer (Sturm-Promotions) : 116-112 Lara

Matt Knowles (3MoreRounds) : 116-112 Canelo

Steve Zemach (Queensberry Rules) : 114-114 DRAW**

Rich Marotta (KFI Radio) : 115-113 Canelo

Pro Boxing Fans Jake : 115-113 Canelo

Dan Rafael (ESPN) : 116-112 Canelo

Martin Gallegas (The Boxing Channel) : 115-113 Canelo

Ryan Bivins (Sweetboxing) : 115-113 Canelo

Scott Christ (BadLeftHook) : 115-113 Lara

FightersRated : 115-114 Canelo

Boxing Socialist : 114-114 DRAW**

Doug Fischer (Ring Magazine) : 115-113 Canelo

Queensberry Rules : 114-114 DRAW**

Kevin McRae (Bleacher Report) : 115-113 Canelo

Ramon Aranda (3MoreRounds) : 114-114 DRAW**

Cliff Rold (BoxingScene) : 114-114 DRAW**

Fightnews : 115-113 Canelo

Kelsey McCaron (The Sweet Science) : 115-113 Lara

Corey Erdman (Wealth TV) : 115-113 Lara

Max Kellerman (HBO) : 115-113 Canelo

Tim Harrison (The Boxing Tribune) : 114-114 DRAW*8

Fight Ghost : 115-113 Canelo

Lem Sattersfield (Ring TV) : 115-113 Lara

Asian Boxing : 116-112 Lara

Mike Coppinger (USA Today) : 115-113 Lara

Boxing Chat : 116-114 Canelo

Write on The Button : 115-113 Lara

Ernest Gabion (Everlast) : 115-113 Canelo

Stephen St John (Sports Radio 810 WHB) : 115-113 Canelo

Claudia Trejos (ESPN Deportes) : 115-113 Lara

William Holmes (Holmes Boxing) : 115-113 Lara

George Jimenez (Freelance) : 114-114 DRAW**

Suge Green (Onthegrindboxing) : 114-114 DRAW**

Nigel Collins (ESPN FNFs) : 115-114 Lara

Francisco A Salazar (BoxingScene) : 114-114 DRAW**

Christopher Carson (RopeADope Radio) : 115-113 Lara

Graham Houston (Boxing Monthly) : 116-112 Canelo

John J Raspanti (Doghouseboxing) : 114-114 DRAW**

The Heavy Bag : 115-113 Lara

Gabriel Montoya (Leaveitintheringradio) : 114-114 DRAW**

Ray Poplawski (Freelance) : 114-114 DRAW**

Lukie Boxing : 116-112 Lara

Tom Gray (Ring Magazine) : 116-113 Canelo

Chris Mannix (Sports Illustrated) : 114-114 DRAW**

Associated Press : 114-114 DRAW**

The Sweet Science : 115-113 Canelo

Mario Mungia (ThaBoxingVoice) : 115-114 Canelo

Iconic Boxing : 115-113 Canelo

Kurt Ward (BoxingAsylum) : 115-113 Lara

Andrew McCart (Firstclassboxing) : 115-113 Lara

John Evans (LiveFight) : 115-113 Canelo

Pugilistic News : 115-113 Lara

John Hoolan (Freelance) : 114-114 DRAW**

Rob Palmer (Checkhookboxing) : 114-114 DRAW**

Paulie Malignaggi (Showtime TV) : 115-114 Lara

Bryan Kenny (Showtime TV) : 116-112 Canelo

Kasim Aslam (Global Boxing) : 115-113 Lara

Steve Adams Jnr (Punchperfectpugilism) : 116-113 Canelo

Ciaran Shanks (Irvine Times) :115-113 Canelo