Erislandy Lara defends against Ishe Smith on May 2nd in Las Vegas, Nevada

By Boxing News - 03/25/2014 - Comments

lara34By Dan Ambrose: WBA World light middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) will be defending his title for the first time against the recently beaten IBF 154lb champion Ishe Smith (25-6, 11 KO’s) on May 2nd at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The fight will be televised by Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes instead of Showtime.

You can read between the lines why Showtime chose not to televise this fight. Obviously, the interest in the fight would be too low for them to want to take a chance on buying the fight. This is not a good fight, and it’s very likely to put fans to sleep on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Depotes. Lara’s a good fighter, but he’s more interesting to watch when he’s facing aggressive opposition like Alfredo Angulo rather than guys that clinch a lot.

Smith, 35, was beaten by Carlos Molina last September by a 12 round split decision. Smith doesn’t deserve to fight for another world title off of that loss. If he’s going to be fighting for another world title, it should have been in a rematch against Molina for the IBF title rather than Smith getting a crack at Lara’s title. With fighters getting immediate world title shots after they lose their belt, it leads to the same guys getting handed opportunity after opportunity in jumping the line in front of more deserving contenders.

The Lara-Smith fight promises to be a dull one filled with clinches by Smith, and a lot of head clashes. This is not a good fight on paper, and it’s too bad that Lara couldn’t face someone else for his first title defense such as #3 WBA Anthony Mundine or #4 WBA Sergey Rabchenko. Either of those guys would be a lot more interesting than #10 WBA Ishe Smith in my view. At least it would be someone new fighting for a world title at 154, instead of seeing Smith get multiple chances.

Lara is hoping to get a fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, but thus far the red-haired Mexican star has shown no interest in fighting him. Even if he wanted to, it’s likely that his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions would veto the fight by steering him away from Lara. The problem is that Lara is too much like Mayweather for them to want to risk putting the Golden Goose in with him and seeing him get out-boxed again.

Also on the card, lightweight Mickey Bey will be fighting Alan Herrera, and featherweight Jesus Andres Cueller will be battling Rico Ramos.



Comments are closed.