Saturday November 10th will decide the challenger who will be aiming to derail Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, fast speeding train towards boxing superstardom. Vanes Martirosyan takes on Erislandy Lara at the Wynn inLas Vegas.
This should in fact be, a battle between 2 undefeated fighters, but Lara was on the unfortunate end of one of the worst judging decisions of recent times, a Majority decision defeat to Paul Williams in 2011. Following the controversial loss, Lara has struggled to secure a significant opponent and has remained fairly inactive, even having Martirosyan turn down a proposed bout between the two, earlier this year.
The Cuban defector, Lara has followed a similar path of many boxers from his homeland. After a stellar amateur career, Lara has used his excellent boxing and counter punching skills to elevate the top of the division in only 19 professional fights.
After again being turned down for a September clash with Saul Alvarez, the WBC immediately ordered a final eliminator clash with Martirosyan, who now was in a position in which he had limited options.
Martirosyan is a long time hot prospect in the junior middleweight division. His all action, hard hitting, busy style has won him many plaudits as well as establishing himself as a prime asset of the Top Rank promotion stable. Lara will easily be his toughest bout to date and after 32 bouts, his critics feel this is a long overdue step-up in competition.
Martirosyan, also poses an impressive amateur background with wins over many fighters currently in the mainstream and that are world titlists. Thus far in his career, he has shown dominance, albeit against second rate competition. At 26, he appears ready to make his move and prove that his progression under Top Rank has primed him for this fight.
Looking closer into the matchup, even during convincing victories, Martirosyan has shown himself to be vulnerable, having been hurt and dropped in a few fights. His hall of fame trainer, Freddie Roach has experienced a few problems recently with his fighters being tested defensively; Martirosyan and his team will have to be wary of Lara as in addition to his boxing skills he has good power and knockout ability.
Lara has shown, at times he can be his own worst enemy. In spite of his abilities, he can lack urgency and switch off mentally in fights. In the other big fight of his career to-date, against Carlos Molina, he labored throughout and only just managed to squeeze a draw. Against a young, hungry, undefeated fighter like Martirosyan, this type of performance is sure to create a recipe for an uncomfortable night for Lara.
Prediction:
I think Lara, in terms of talent, is a legitimate threat to Alvarez at the top of the division. I think he will have too much for Martirosyan and has learned from previous mistakes. He should be able to effectively counter and hurt Martirosyan, who will be game, but ultimately overmatched.
Lara TKO 8
