By Robert “Big Moe” Elmore: Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KOs) is an exceptional talent and he has the tools to compete with any 154 pound fighter. But Lara lacks commercial appeal and he doesn’t have a huge fan base. His style is boring to some and exciting to others. Networks seem to cater more to exciting fighters unless you corner the market and make them notice you (ah-la Floyd Mayweather Jr and the Klitschko Brothers.
The fact that Lara doesn’t speak English makes him have to use his fists that much more. He’s also has gone to drastic measures to get the big fight. Lara crashed the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez- Alfredo Angulo post conference and demanded Canelo fight him. The last time I saw this happen is when Shane Mosley confronted Mayweather after his victory over Juan Manuel Marquez. We all know how that went. Hopefully, this won’t happen to Lara. Mosley wasn’t looking for fame.
He was looking for a payday (in my opinion). Lara is gunning for the notoriety and not so much the payday. He’s looking to become the “it” guy and align himself for bigger pay days down the line. His victory over Angulo was more profound to me because it required the Cuban to dig deep to get the victory. He was knocked down twice and rose up to stop the Mexican via technical knockout.
The media made Canelo’s victory much more profound than Lara’s because Canelo has a huge Mexican following and it was on pay per view. Lara’s fight with Angulo was on regular Showtime and Lara’s crowd didn’t grow that much. However, people were put on noticed. The public took more notice after Lara punished Austin Trout. Canelo’s victory over Trout was closer than what the cards read (in my opinion). If Lara wins, he has to capitalize on his victory. Most will suggest that Mayweather give him shot. Floyd has two fights left on his contract and will be looking to make as much money as possible. Fighting Lara won’t do that. Perhaps, he can be built up in front of a Cubans and force the public to further take notice. I don’t want Lara to be treated like fellow Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux (aka Rigo). Rigondeaux outclassed Nonito Donaire, but month’s later negotiations were taking place to get the Filipino star back on the air. Top Rank, Rigo’s promoter, has made statements that HBO throws up when the Cuban is mentioned. That’s not fair at all.
The beautiful part about Lara is that he is not signed to any promotional company. His adviser Al Haymon has more than enough pull to put him in position to get a bigger name and get a decent pay day. He is 31 years of age so needs to make the most of his time while he has the chance. There is a difficult part of this situation that I have to deal with as a fan of fair. Even if Canleo losses, he will put back in the spotlight because Golden Boy is attempting to build him into a crossover star. In fact, the lost might be brushed under the carpet just as his loss to Floyd Mayweather was. So Lara has to bring it. He has no choice but to do so because of the way he went about getting the fight. A loss could hurt him. But I’m really pulling for him.
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