Canelo Alvarez's nip-and-tuck affair with Erislandy Lara divided fans and media alike in 2014.
Within a year of falling to defeat for the first time in his young but prolific professional boxing career against Floyd Mayweather, the Mexican superstar signed to fight Lara in July 2014.
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Nobody expected the Guadalajara starlet to take such a tough test so soon.
Canelo had been completely outclassed by Mayweather over 12 rounds in September 2013 - even if the scorecards didn't reflect how dominant 'TBE's' victory was.
But rather than licking his wounds, Canelo got back in the ring six months later to score a fairly routine 10th-round TKO victory over the durable Alfredo Angulo.
Keen to build on the momentum of his victory, he was then thrust into a fight with skilful southpaw, Lara, in a bout to determine the No. 1 super-welterweight following Mayweather and Miguel Cotto's respective exits from the division.
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At the time, Lara hadn't won a world title but was fresh off an impressive win against former WBA 'regular' super-welterweight belt-holder Austin Trout and was ranked No.2 at 154lbs by Ring Magazine.
The Cuban is now the oldest active world champion in boxing as he is currently in possession of the WBA middleweight title at the age of 41 - but more on that later.
Canelo and Lara duked it out for 12 rounds at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena in a fight that saw the former take on the role of aggressor while 'The American Dream' jabbed and moved on the back foot.
Lara had a lot of success with his straight left while Canelo's best work came from his flurries in the pocket.
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In the end, the judges preferred Canelo's constant pressure and heavier punching with two of them; Levi Martinez (117-111) and Dave Moretti (115-113) scoring it in his favour.
The third official, Jerry Roth, had it 115-113 for Lara, which several pundits and fans felt was the right decision.
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In the immediate aftermath, boxing forums were filled with cries of 'robbery' while Lara couldn't contain his frustration at the result when he spoke to the media in his post-fight press conference.
"None of the body shots hurt and he didn't land any head shots," he said via a translator.
Boxing star Canelo Alvarez lands thunderous body shot on fan after request at event
"One thing I will say is that Levi Martinez had [Gabriel] Campillo beating [Beibut] Shumenov in the exact same style fight 117-111 and tonight it is the other way around.
"How does that make sense, it doesn't make sense?"
The Compubox punch stats for the fight show Lara outlanded Canelo by 10 shots over the duration of the contest while the Mexican scored 36 more power punches.
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Media scorecards provided by Boxing News revealed that 39 per cent of 89 journalists scored the fight in Canelo's favour, while 33 per cent had it for Lara and 28 per cent felt it should have been a draw.
Canelo would go on to establish himself as the No.1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world in the late 2010s and early 2020s, winning world titles at middleweight, super middleweight and light-heavyweight, including undisputed status at 168lbs.
Meanwhile, Lara has shown immense longevity in winning WBA super-welterweight and middleweight titles in his mid-thirties and early forties.
Last year, he was upgraded to full WBA middleweight world champion, after holding the 'regular' belt since 2019.
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This made him the oldest title-holder in the current boxing landscape at 40 years old.
He later defended the strap by knocking out Michael Zerafa and remains a world champion at 41.
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