By Craig Daly: WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Erislandy Lara has received a “special permit” from the World Boxing Association to defend against #7 Danny Garcia on August 5th, with the winner to face mandatory Michael Zerafa “within 120 days” after their clash.

The former two-division world champion Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) last fought in July, defeating Jose Benavidez Jr by a twelve-round majority decision at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Danny, 5’8″, is undersized for the middleweight division, but his skills and power make up for what he lacks in size.

Despite being out of the ring for close to two years, Danny ‘Swift’ looked as good as ever, winning by the scores 116-112, 117-111, and 114-114.

There are a lot of boxing fans that want to see Danny challenge Lara for his title. This is a fight that people have been talking about for months. The Lara-Garcia fight can proceed now that the WBA mandatory Zerafa is out of the way.

For his part, Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) last fought in May of 2022, stopping Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan in the eighth round in the first defense of his WBA ‘regular’ 160-lb title.

Lara turned 40 on April 11th, and it should be interesting to see if his year layoff will negatively impact his game. He’s fought only once a year for the last three years, which hasn’t helped his popularity.

Given Lara’s advanced age, you’d like to see him maximize the time he has left in his career. Fighting annually isn’t getting the most out of his time left.

In 2021, Lara won the WBA ‘regular’ title with a first-round knockout of Thoms LaManna.

Danny Garcia has been belt-less since losing his WBC welterweight title to Keith Thurman in 2017. In 2018, Garcia lost to Shawn Porter in a bid to win the vacant WBC 147-lb title, and in 2020, he was beaten by IBF/WBC champ Errol Spence Jr.

“The World Boxing Association (WBA), through its Championships Committee, granted a special permit to middleweight champion Erislandy Lara to fight Danny Garcia on August 5,” per WBA.

“The company TGB Promotions sent the request to the entity, which was studied in depth to determine the most appropriate decision. Team Zerafa was consulted, and after arduous negotiations, it was possible to reach an agreement between both parties.

“The winner between Lara and Garcia, or Lara should the fight end in a draw, is obligated to fight Zerafa within 120 days after their bout.”