Erislandy Lara took a split decision loss to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in their non-title fight on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but the reigning WBA junior middleweight champion felt that he got robbed.
Lara, who absorbed the second loss of his professional career, said that he was robbed of a clear victory, reiterating that a rematch should be arranged soon.
Canelo escaped with a close decision victory with two judges calling the fight for Alvarez, 117-111 and 115-113, while the third judge scored the bout for Lara, 115-113.
"It was disgraceful what they did to us," Lara said via BoxingScene. "I want an immediate rematch. I will once again show that I'm better than him. He knows in his heart that he lost."
The 31-year-old Cuban said that judge Levi Martinez, who scored the fight 117-111, should be investigated for having a lopsided scorecard and that he should not be allowed to score in a big fight again.
"I'm very disappointed in Judge Levi Martinez for his horrendous score," Lara said. "How in the world did he score it 117-111? Before the decision was announced, I stood across the ring and saw Team Canelo and their body language said it all. You could see the depression in their eyes."
However, Lara might wait long to get a rematch or he might not get it at all. When asked about a possible second showdown, Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya sounded uninterested in arranging a Canelo-Lara 2 showdown.
"What I heard from everybody - they don't want a rematch. Nobody wants a rematch. Now, there's ten guys in line. Lara just lost and now he has to wait in line. There is ten guys in line. That's the way this works," Lara said. "Canelo won tonight and now we have to move on."
Lara said that De La Hoya should reveal the 10 fighters that he is talking about for transparency, insisting that he should be the only fighter Canelo's camp should consider after the result of Saturday's match.
"Oscar De La Hoya said that I have to wait in line to fight Alvarez again because there are 10 others ahead of me. That speaks volumes because he knows Canelo got a gift," Lara said. "Who are these 10 guys he's talking about. I want to know. I won this fight and a rematch needs to happen right away."
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