Top Jr. Middleweight contender Erislandy Lara scored a
dominant twelve round unanimous decision over longtime contender Delvin
Rodriguez on Friday night at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. Lara was in
command from the opening bell in a bout that at times resembled a sparring
session.
Lara’s ability to use angles, be elusive and pick his spots
with precision timing was the story of this fight. Lara was able to frequently
snap the head of Rodriguez back throughout this fight with crisp and accurate
combination punching. The highlight of the fight came in the closing seconds of
round six when Lara dropped Rodriguez with a left hand. Although the always “Game”
Rodriguez was able to get up from the knockdown and ultimately did go the
distance in this fight, he was simply unable to solve the puzzle of Erislandy
Lara and was outclassed.
At the end of the twelve round bout, all three official
judges Bill Lerch, Steve Weisfeld, and Robert Hoyle scored the fight
identically 120-107, a shutout in favor of Erislandy Lara. Erislandy Lara
advances to 21-2-2, with 12 Knockouts. Delvin Rodriguez falls to 28-8-4, with
16 Knockouts. Unofficially, I scored this fight the same as the official judges
120-107 in favor of Lara.
For Lara, who holds interim/regular champion status in the
World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Jr. Middleweight ratings, this victory will
likely keep him in line for a title shot. It will be interesting however, to
see where Lara will fit into the equation as Floyd Mayweather recently
announced his intention to relinquish all world titles he currently holds in
both the Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions. This would appear to open
an opportunity for Lara to fight for a vacant world title seeing as Mayweather
holds both the WBC and WBA world championships in the Jr. Middleweight division.
It is also certainly possible if Mayweather, who also holds
the WBC, WBA, and WBO world championships in the Welterweight division, does
indeed relinquish his championships in both divisions that Lara could be named WBA
champion per his holding interim/regular status in the WBA Jr. Middleweight
ratings. Following his victory over Delvin Rodriguez Lara expressed his interest
in seeking fights against Mayweather or moving up six pounds from the 154lb.
Jr. Middleweight division to the 160lb. Middleweight division to seek fights
against either WBC world champion Miguel Cotto or undefeated unified WBA/IBO
world champion Gennady Golovkin.
Although Lara dominated his fight against Delvin Rodriguez,
a possible criticism of some might be that Lara did not take advantage of some
opportunities throughout the fight when it appeared that Rodriguez could have
been on the verge of succumbing to accumulated punishment and did not close the
show. Even though the crowd in attendance periodically expressed
dissatisfaction during the course of this fight by booing due to lack of
action, for Boxing purists Lara put on a masterpiece and even though he did not
go for the knockout, it was as close to a perfect performance as one could get
from a pure Boxing standpoint.
A conundrum however, that Lara might face as he seeks more
lucrative opportunities potentially against the likes of Mayweather, Cotto, or
Golovkin is that those fighters might view an encounter with him as a high
risk/low reward scenario. Lara is after all highly skilled, very elusive, and
has a style that has proven difficult for opponents to solve.
Lara however, has only been defeated twice as a professional
by Paul Williams and Saul Alvarez. An argument can be made that Lara could
easily be an undefeated fighter. He did after all give Saul Alvarez all he
could handle in their fight in July of last year and some feel he deserved the
decision in what was a very close fight. Many observers, this one included,
also feel that Lara was the victim of injustice in a fight where the three
judges who scored the fight in favor of Williams via majority decision were
indefinitely suspended by the New Jersey State Athletic Board Of Control
following the fight. Despite those setbacks, Lara has remained a key player in
the Jr. Middleweight division.
Although Lara may not always be a crowd pleasing fighter to
watch, there is no denying his skill level. Regardless of where Lara will
choose to fight whether he continues to campaign as a Jr. Middleweight or
decide to move up to the Middleweight division, he should get an opportunity to
face the best fighters in either division.
There is no doubt that fighters like
Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, and Gennady Golovkin are stars of the sport and
in the case of Mayweather and Cotto are first ballot future Hall of Famer’s.
All great fighters however, have to from time to time take risks.
Whether
Mayweather, Cotto, Golovkin, or another star in the sport decides to take what
may be considered a high risk/low reward scenario by facing Erislandy Lara, it
is clear he has earned the opportunity to show when he can do against the best
of the best. Whether he gets that opportunity remains to be seen.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison
All Rights Reserved.
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