Erislandy Lara

Erislandy Lara is a professional boxer who was born in Guantanamo, Cuba, on April 11, 1983. While he did not take up the sport of boxing at a young age, Lara became known for his technical skills in the ring early in his amateur career. After a rough start, he finally became one of the best amateur boxers in Cuba in 2005. This recognition earned him a spot on the Cuban roster for the 2005 Boxing World Cup in Moscow. Lara dominated the early portion of the tournament, but eventually lost in the final match to Russian Andrey Balanov to get the silver medal.

He would also get the chance to represent Cuba in the welterweight division at the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Mianyang, China. An early victory over his Russian rival Balanov put Lara in great position to succeed. He went on to win every match in the tournament to earn the gold medal. He added another gold medal to his impressive amateur boxing resume when he was the top fighter at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartegena, Columbia.

Erislandy Lara was expected to be a big contributor for the Cuban boxing team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, but he was banned for the sport indefinitely for attempting to defect to Brazil in 2007. He did not let the governmental ban prevent him from his passion, so Lara used a boat to get to Mexico in 2008. He then went to Hamburg, Germany, to seek asylum. The successful defection to Germany allowed him to start his professional boxing career with a win over Ivan Maslov on July 4, 2008.

Erislandy Lara successfully won his first 13 professional fights before getting a chance to win a title. A match on November 27, 2010, against Tim Connors was for the vacant WBA Fedelatin light middleweight title. Lara won the match with a first round technical knockout. His first professional loss came against Paul Williams on July 9, 2011. Erislandy responded with two straight victories following the loss to Williams. This ability to rebound earned him a shot at the vacant WBA light middleweight title against Alfredo Angulo. Both fighters put on a good performance, but Angulo ultimately got knocked out in the 10th round.

Lara successfully defended his new WBA title with a unanimous decision victory over Austin Trout on December 7, 2013. While waiting for a strong contender to emerge, he decided to move up a weight class to face Canelo Alvarez. The risky decision did not pay off because Alvarez won the fight by split decision. Erislandy Lara added another title belt to his waist when he defeated Delvin Rodriguez on June 12, 2015, in a match for the vacant IBO light middleweight title. Both of the prestigious light middleweight titles were successfully defended against Jan Zaveck and Vanes Martirosyan to end 2016 with a professional record of 23-2-2. Ersilandy added another successful title defense to his career record when defeated Yuri Foreman with a fourth round knockout on January 13, 2017.

What is Erislandy Lara's Record?

Erislandy Lara's record currently stands at 29 wins, 3 loses and 3 draws. Of those 29 wins he has stopped 17 of his opponents, so his current knock-out ratio is 59%. Despite his 3 loses, he has never been stopped. He's boxed a total of 234 rounds, meaning his professional fights last 6.7 rounds on average.

What was Lara's last fight?

Erislandy Lara's last fight took place against Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan's on 28th May 2022, in New York, United States. He won by technical knockout in the 8th round. That fight was 1 year ago.

How active is Erislandy Lara?

Lara's last 5 fights have come over a period of 4 years, 3 months and 3 days, meaning he has been fighting on average every 10 months and 7 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 35 rounds, meaning that they have lasted 7 rounds on average.

What belts does Erislandy Lara hold?

He won a vacant WBA World Middleweight belt against Thomas Lamanna, beating him by knockout in the 1st round on 1st May 2021. He has held this belt for a total of 765 days (2 years, 1 month and 4 days) and has defended the belt 1 time. He is yet to make a mandatory defence of this belt.

Where is Erislandy Lara From?

Lara was born in Cuba.

How Old Is Erislandy Lara?

The middleweight is currently 40 years old. He was born on 11th April 1983, so he will turn 41 in 10 months and 6 days.

How long has Lara been fighting?

Erislandy Lara made his professional debut in July 2008, so he has been a pro for 14 years and 11 months.

How good is Erislandy Lara?

Lara is currently ranked 7th by the The Ring at Middleweight.

How tall is Erislandy Lara?

Lara is 5' 9" (5 Foot and 9 inches) which is 175cm (1 meter and 75 centimeters).

What is Lara's Reach?

His reach is 74 inches (74") which is 188 cm (1 meter and 88 centimeters).

What stance does Erislandy Lara use?

Lara fights from a southpaw stance, which means he favours his left hand as his power hand when fighting.

What are some potential opponents for Erislandy Lara?

Some potential future fights for Lara include Unified Super Welterweight Champion Jermell Charlo, Gennady Golovkin, Demetrius Andrade, Jarrett Hurd and Michael Zerafa.

What will be Erislandy Lara's Next Fight?

Erislandy Lara is to face Danny Garcia next on Saturday 5th August 2023. The fight will take place at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, United States. The fight will be shown on ShowTime in the United States.

How can I stream Erislandy Lara's Fights?

In the US you can stream Erislandy Lara fight via Paramount+.

What are some recent Erislandy Lara results?

Lara has beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 3 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight, he defeated Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan on 28th May 2022 by technical knockout in the 8th round in their WBA World Middleweight championship fight at Barclays Center, New York, United States.

Previous to that, he had defeated Thomas Lamanna on 1st May 2021 by knockout in the 1st round in their WBA World Middleweight championship fight at Dignity Health Sports Park, California.

Going into that contest, he had beat Greg Vendetti on 29th August 2020 by unanimous decision in their WBA World Super Welterweight championship fight at Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California.

Before that, he had won against Ramon Alvarez on 31st August 2019 by technical knockout in the 2nd round in their WBA World Super Welterweight championship fight at Minneapolis Armory, Minnesota.

He had drawn with Brian Carlos Castano on 2nd March 2019 by split draw in their WBA World Super Welterweight championship fight at Barclays Center, New York.