By Dan Ambrose: Erislandy Lara (23-2-2, 13 KOs) weighed in at the limit at 154 pounds on Thursday at the weigh-in for his title defense of his WBA Super World junior middleweight strap on Friday night against former WBA light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (34-2, 10 KOs) at the Hialeah Park Racing & Casino, in Hialeah, Florida. Foreman weighed in at 153.2lbs.
Lara, 33, is supposed to be stepping up the level of his competition after the Foreman fight. It would be the first time that Lara fought a good opponent since his loss to Saul Canelo Alvarez.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
This could be the last chance for the 36-year-old Foreman to make something of his drowning career. If he loses to Lara on Friday, he might not get another chance at a world title. Foreman really didn’t deserve this title shot. He was just fortunate that the World Boxing Association ranked him in their top 10 at the No.9 spot. He was also fortunate that Lara, 33, is the champion, because the Cuban fighter had shown a strong tendency to face weaker contenders rather than high quality opponents since he won the WBA title in 2014.
What Foreman has going for him in this fight is Lara doesn’t tend to sit down on his punches that often. He’s more of a ring technician who likes to pot shot his opponents for 12 rounds without getting dirty. Lara only has one knockout in the last four years of his career, and that was against the 40-year-old Jan Zaveck in 2015.
Zaveck is another contender that did little to deserve a title shot against Lara, but he was picked out for the fight anyway. Foreman might have a chance of beating Lara if he can get him into a boxing match for 12 rounds. The fighters that have done well against Lara in his nine-year pro career were guys that put a lot of pressure on him like Saul Canelo Alvarez, Carlos Molina, Alfredo Angulo and Vanes Martirosyan.
The fighters that don’t do well against Lara are guys that stay on the outside and let him set the pace of the fights. If Foreman lets Lara land his single shots without having to deal with any pressure, then he’ll easily win the fight.
In other weights on the card, former WBC 168lb champion Anthony Dirrell (29-1-1, 23 KOs) weighed in at 169.8lb for his 10 round non-title fight against Norbert Nemesapati (24-4, 17 KOs). For his part, the 21-year-old Nemesapati weighed in at 168lbs.
Dirrell should win this fight easily. He’s got a beatable guy facing him on Friday night in Nemesapati, who was stopped in the 6th round last September by Callum Smith, and beaten by Umar Salamov last August. Dirrell’s performance will certainly be compared to those two fighters. If Dirrell can’t beat Nemesapati with equal ease, then won’t make him look good.
