WBA World junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-2-2, 12 KOs) has started training for his next fight in November, according to Fightnews.com. Lara is interested in possibly facing either James Kirkland or former IBF junior middleweight champion Ishe Smith.
Lara was recently beaten by former WBA/WBC 154 pound champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez by a disputed 12 round decision last July in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a fight that many boxing fans felt that Lara won due to his command of the ring, and his superb defensive skills.
Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya said that Lara won’t be getting a rematch with Canelo, and that he’s going to need to get in the back of a long line to face him again.
WBO junior middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade is interested in fighting Lara next, but it doesn’t appear that Lara is interested in that fight. That would be the best possible fight for Lara to take though, because if he beat Andrade, he’s have two of the four division titles at 154. It would be a risky fight for Lara though because Andrade is a tall fighter with good power and excellent boxing skills.
Lara might find himself in the same situation where he was in the Canelo fight where he would need to show more offensive skills for him to win a decision. The judges aren’t likely to give Lara a decision against Andrade if he’s mostly moving for 12 rounds and throwing just pot shots. Lara would need to stop and get in the trenches with Andrade in order to get a win over him.
Kirkland would be a tough fight for Lara as well. Kirkland’s got the straight ahead style like Canelo, but he’s slower and easier to hit. Lara would obviously be looking to outbox him by using pot shots and movement. It would still be a very tough fight for Lara if Kirkland comes in shape and is motivated.
Lara needs to improve his offense if he wants to beat the top guys in the division because the way he fought Canelo isn’t going to make it easy for him to beat the top contenders in the division.
