Lara: When I fight action fighters, I make good fights

Erislandy Lara (25-2-2, 14 KOs) may be one of the best technical boxers in the world, but he’s far from one of the most popular. The perception of Lara’s style has essentially run analogous to that of Guillermo Rigondeaux — a supremely talented boxer, who can also be dreadfully painful to watch on television.

That perception was only reinforced in Lara’s latest outing against Terrell Gausha this past October, when he won a 12-round decision in a snoozefest of a fight.

Lara, though, doesn’t care about those who don’t appreciate the entertainment value of his fights, telling RingTV that he needs to be matched appropriately — against action fighters — in order to create a better product for the viewing audience.

“These guys gotta fight me. When I fight action fighters, I make good entertaining fights like I did with Paul Williams and (Alfredo) Angulo. These young guys have to bring that out, and if not, I’ll cruise to a decision.”

The good news, at least in the short term, is that Lara now looks to be lined up against some of the other junior middleweight titleholders in the coming year, specifically against Jarrett Hurd and Jermell Charlo. Hurd in particular would present the kind of come-forward style that Lara revels, so Lara says that’s a recipe for a fun fight with some carnage.

“I’m happy the young guys (want to fight me), you have to have that attitude, you have to beat the best to be the best,” Lara said. “I love that style matchup (with Hurd), and hopefully he puts the pressure on like Angulo and I can leave his face the same way when the fight is over.”

Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza then chimed-in to say that high-level fights aren’t always going to be slugfests, which is undoubtedly true, and that Lara has earned his spot for notable fights.

With that being said, we can surely expect to see some 154lb title unifications on the way at Showtime, and there’s no time like the present...