By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten light middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan (32-0, 20 KO’s) is really going to have to raise his game if he expects to get past Erislandy Lara (17-1-1, 11 KO’s) next month on November 10th in their WBC final eliminator bout at the Wynn Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is a tough bout that could go either way, but you have to consider the 29-year-old Cuban Lara as the favorite in this fight based on his accuracy, power, speed, and southpaw stance. Lara can really do it all, and it’s going to be hard to find someone that can beat him while he’s in the prime of his career.

Martirosyan, #3 WBC, #3 WBO, #10 IBF, has already been exposed in his questionable 10 round decision win over Kassim Ouma two years ago in 2010. Martirosyan couldn’t handle the pressure and the accuracy of Ouma’s shots and ended up taking in that fight. How Martirosyan could have been given the decision in that fight is anyone’s guess.

Lara, #2 WBC, #5 WBA, #6 WBO, #9 IBF, has had some problems in the ring as well. He was briefly staggered in his fight with Grady Brewer in 2010, and took a lot of heavy shots in his win over Darnell Boone in 2009. Lara struggled badly with the inside fighting ability of Carlos Molina last year in March 2011, ending up getting a 10 round draw in that fight. The one fight where Lara was actually beaten against Paul Williams last year in July turned out to be one of Lara’s easiest fights of his career, yet the judges gave Williams the decision. That fight led to a lot of criticism of the judges because it seemed like such a clear cut victory for Lara.

If you were to look at a weakness that Lara has that Martirosyan might be able to exploit you’d have to say Lara’s chin. He can be hurt if you hit him hard enough, and Martirosyan definitely had good power going for him. If he put some power into his shots and put pressure on Lara, it’s possible that Martirosyan can win this fight. If he tries to box Lara, he’ll lose because Lara is the more accurate and faster fighter.

The winner of the Lara-Martirosyan fight will become the mandatory challenger for WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and should be able to get a title shot next year if they’re lucky.