By Huck Allen: WBA ‘regular’ junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (28-3-3, 16 KOs) is in action next month in defense of his title against veteran Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan (31-4, 21 KOs) in a 12-round co-feature spot on the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero card on Showtime PPV at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Davis-Rolly event starts at 9:00 p.m. ET.
It’s unknown why the 39-year-old Lara is being ranked against a non-contender from the middleweight division in 37-year-old O’Sullivan.
As long as the World Boxing Association is fine with the talented Cuban Lara defending his 154-lb secondary title against second-tier fighters like O’Sullivan, it’s all good.
Lara will be making his first defense of his WBA ‘regular’ 154-lb title that he captured a year ago with a first-round knockout victory over Thomas LaManna in May 2021 in Carson, California.
For Lara, this is his second stint as the WBA 154-lb champion after having previously held that title from 2014 to 2018, losing the strap to Jarrett Hurt by a 12-round split decision in a thrilling war.
“Erislandy Lara, a highly-skilled champion who has engaged in numerous exciting action bouts, will have everything he can handle against Gary O’Sullivan, who has never backed up in a boxing ring,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe.
Lara attempted to retain his WBA title in March 2019, fighting Brian Castano to a questionable 12-round draw in a fight that could have gone either way.
Although 39-years-old, Lara is still fighting at a high level, seemingly in his late 20s or early 30s rather than a guy on the doorstep of 40. Like fellow Cuban Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz, Lara is striding through the decades, untouched by age like ordinary fighters.
It would be nicer to have seen Lara matched up against Israil Madrimov, Charles Conwell, Tim Tszyu, Sebastian Fundora, or Erickson Lubin.
The popular Irish fighter O’Sullivan is coming off a year-long break since beating Nodar Robakidze by a six-round points decision last year in June 2021
Before that, O’Sullivan lost to Jaime Munguia by an eleventh-round knockout in January 2020 in an exciting war that saw both fighters hurt San Antonio, Texas.
O’Sullivan’s other three losses have come at the hands of these fighters: David Lemieux, Chris Eubank Jr., and Billy Joe Saunders.
Aside from O’Sullivan’s first-round blowout loss to Lemieux in September 2018 in Las Vegas, he was competitive in his other three defeats.
O’Sullivan’s best wins:
- Antoine Douglas
- Khairy Gray
- Milton Nunez
- Matthew Hall
- Anthony Fitzgerald
