Erislandy Lara vs. Ronald Hearns: who do you pick?

By Boxing News - 04/06/2012 - Comments

Image: Erislandy Lara vs. Ronald Hearns: who do you pick?By Gerardo Granados: Middleweight Ronald Hearns “The Chosen one”, son of boxing legend Thomas Hearns will engage against top light middleweight contender Cuban born Erislandy Lara next April 20th at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.A. Although Ronald inherited the famous and prestigious last name of his hall of fame father he might not have inherited his father boxing skills.

Young Hearns might have the heart to prove detractors wrong but sometimes a fighter need more than his will to win. If He wins he could end lined up to a second title shot but if he loses no one could criticize him for taking a risky fight even though it took him more than a year after losing his last bout.

On the other corner Erislandy Lara have been avoided due he is not an easy prey for any of the current light middleweight belt holders, also if he defeats Hearns it might not improve his chances to get a shot at a major title but it should bring recognition from boxing fans around the world as a real threat to any of the division organization champions.

Ronald Hearns (orthodox / height 6´3” reach 73” record W26 (20)-L2(2)) isn´t ranked in the top 15 by any of the major boxing organizations, he need to win to avoid been considered as other sons of great boxers who tried but failed to achieve what their seniors did. As Marvis Frazier and his brother Joe Frazier Jr., Hector Camacho Jr., Gerardo Cuevas(son of Pipino Cuevas), Omar Chavez (son of Julio Cesar Chavez) or James McGirt Jr., just to mention a few.

Meanwhile Erislandy Lara (southpaw / height 5´9”, record W15 (10)-L1-D) has built a name by himself but he need to keep up the good work so boxing fans can push him to get a shot at a major title soon; currently Erislandy is ranked 3 by the WBC, 4 by the WBA and IBF, and 12 by the WBO.

Last July 9th 2011 Erislandy lost a controversial MD 12 against Paul Williams, shameful scoring by fight judges 114-116, 114-115, 144-144; the score cards were absurd I personally think Lara should have won 116 – 112. Last February 19th 2011 Ronald lost via TKO 7 to Felix Sturm, I believe he was rushed to the title against an experimented veteran Champion.

Ronald needs to improve his defense, take advantage of his size, height and reach, use his long jab and to feint his shots. Erislandy could get under Hearns jab and counter with hard left hooks, work the body and move side to side.

Both fighters are hungry for recognition fame and glory. I´ll pick as a certain winner of this bout the boxing fans that get the chance to watch the fight. Wish the best luck for both fighters, let the best man win. The pride that these two fighters have will drive them to victory; hopefully this fight will end in a thriller.
So, who do you pick?



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