WBA World light-middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (21-2-2, 12 KO’s) has had no luck in getting a date with WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KO’s).
The 2005 gold medal recipient at the World Amateur Championships, Lara has been calling out Golovkin for over a year and a half, but the Kazakh doesn’t appear to show any interest in the fight.
Lara obviously wants the fight with Golovkin, but he’s not going to wait for the rest of his career, so he’s going to have to search for an alternative. However, the Cuban-style aficionado may have found someone who’s willing to go toe-to-toe.
WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee (34-2-1, 24 KO’s) has never backed down from a challenge, and he always comes to fight.
Lee’s promoter, Lou DiBella has a good working relationship with Al Haymon, Lara’s adviser. However, Haymon has a poor working relationship with HBO, perhaps a reason the fight hasn’t happened yet.
Golovkin was under an exclusive deal with HBO, a four-fight agreement, but it expired following his sixth-round TKO victory of Willie Monroe Jr. in May. This could open the door to a fight in the future.
Lee defends his title on September 19th against former European middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. Lara will likely take a “stay-busy” fight on a PBC card in October or November.
Unfortunately for Lara, that’s exactly what his most recent fight was. He dominated Delvin Rodriguez en-route to a unanimous decision victory, who quite frankly was undeserving of a title shot, let alone a title eliminator.
Luis DeCubas, Lara’s manager spoke with ESPN Deportes via Boxing Scene to discuss his future.
“I think Erislandy will return in late October or early November. He is resting, waiting for the next opponent. The problem is that nobody wants to fight him after watching what he did with Canelo Alvarez,
Austin Trout, and Alfredo Angulo. They recognized his potential. The good news is, he will remain active and sooner or later, he will end up facing these opponents.
“He makes 154 perfect. But, he would go to 160 if Andy Lee wins. He would fight Andy. And if that doesn’t happen, then we’d try to get a fight with Golovkin.”
