Erislandy Lara Calls out Keith Thurman on Twitter

By Boxing News - 03/11/2015 - Comments

thurman8888By Everest Castaneda: After Keith “One Time” Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs) disposed of the rugged Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (32-3-1, 18 KOs) in an exciting 12 round unanimous decision, Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs) went onto Twitter and took shots at the undefeated fighter.

In one tweet, Lara states, “He (Thurman) doesn’t want that! Easy work for me! ‘One Time’ wouldn’t win ‘One Round.’” Lara also went on to challenge Thurman’s “feared” status stating, “…he says no one wants to fight him, but here I am! Come out and play Keith.”

Now, Thurman is no stranger to the light middleweight division having fought at that limit against southpaw Carlos “El Indio” Quintana (29-4, 23 KOs). To add, Thurman rehydrated to a hefty 162 lbs. against Guerrero. Thurman is not a small welterweight, and one has to wonder just how much longer he can stay at that limit. Lara is not out of line asking for this fight. In reality, it is an extremely high risk fight for Thurman. Not only would Thurman have to move up a division, but he would also have to face a fighter with a stylistic advantage.

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One of Thurman’s tactics in the ring is that he throws wide, looping power-shots. These punches can be telegraphed at times, but further, this could be exploited by Lara’s swift 1-2 combinations. The more compact punches would be favored in this possible match up. In addition, Lara, the rangy southpaw, would have a large reach advantage of 75” to Thurman’s 69”; therefore, it will be up to Thurman to be the aggressor. If not, he will be eating shots from the outside all night. Although Thurman is no stranger to southpaws, he had issues cutting off the ring against Quintana. Since he did not properly cut-off the ring, Quintana was able to recover in the second round from the body-shot that put him on the canvas in the first.

One has to only watch Lara’s more recent fight against Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith (26-7, 12 KOs) to see Lara’s discipline in the ring and ability to stick to his game plan on the outside. Even with his roughhouse tactics and trash talking, Smith was never able to goad Lara into fighting on the inside. If Thurman cannot cut-off the ring, Lara will be able to keep his usual, familiar pace on the outside.

To add, Lara is a durable fighter having taken nasty shots from the hard-hitting Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo (22-5, 18 KOs), and he also survived onslaughts to the body from Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs). In addition, Lara was able to halt both fighters’ forward momentum with his quick combinations and forceful punches. Not only will he be able to withstand Thurman’s power, but he will also be able to gain respect from Thurman with his own power shots from the outside. Easily, Lara would be Thurman’s toughest challenge yet.



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