By Eric Baldwin: Fresh off his 4th round KO win over Yuri Foreman (34-3, 10 KOs) last Friday night, WBA super welterweight champion Erislandy Lara (24-2-2, 14 KOs) made it clear that he wants to fight Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and/or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Lara is ready to take those big fights.
Lara, 33, didn’t say if he’s going to vacate his WBA title to go up in weight and pursue those fighters or not. That would be the first move for Lara if he wanted to let the boxers know that he’s serious about wanting to fight them.
Calling out Canelo and Golovkin was a natural thing for Lara to do after his win. He had the cameras on him, and took full advantage of it by letting the boxing public know that he wants to fight those guys. The one thing that Lara has working against him to get those fights is he’s not been fighting the type of opposition to be taken serious by either fighter, and by the fans.
If Lara were facing better fighters, he could get the boxing public on his side to create pressure on Canelo and Golovkin. Lara’s fights as the WBA champion have come against the most beatable opposition imaginable in Ishe Smith, Jan Zaveck, Yuri Foreman, Delvin Rodriguez and Vanes Martirosyan.
Lara put Foreman down twice in knocking him down in rounds 3 and 4 at the Hialeah Park Racing and Casino in Miami. The fight was televised by Premier Boxing Champions on Spike.
“I’m ready to fight the best in the world, Golovkin, Canelo… whoever is willing to step in the ring with me, I’m willing to fight,” said Lara.
Lara may not get Canelo or Golovkin, but he can probably get Demetrius Andrade and Julian “J-Rock” Williams to fight him. Those fighters would jump at the chance of a title shot against the 33-year-old Lara.
The Cuban fighter Lara is aging without doing much to create a legacy for himself or to make as much money as he could from the sport. Lara has been a pro for decade now, and he’s very little to take on the big names. Lara did fight Canelo in 2014, but he didn’t take advantage of that opportunity by battling him and staying in the pocket to get the win.
It was a lot opportunity for Lara. Even if he had gotten beaten by a knockout, he would have put himself in position to win the fight. Lara didn’t do that. He evaded Canelo, and only jabbed.
Canelo is likely done with the 154lb division permanently. Lara will need to come up in weight if he wants that rematch to occur.
Golovkin might give Lara a shot one of these days after he makes the move to 160. Lara can’t wait too long to make that move.