Erislandy Lara still leads the junior middleweight pack

Erislandy Lara aims to solidify his junior middleweight supremacy when he headlines a stacked card featuring some of the best 154-pound fighters in the world. But there’s more at stake for Lara than just his titles.

When Erislandy Lara (24-2-2, 14 KOs) enters the ring this Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT), to face 2012 American Olympian Terrell Gausha (20-0, 9 KOs), a mere victory won’t suffice. Indeed, Lara’s first concern is to retain his world title, but an emphatic triumph would serve as an ideal springboard to major fights in a talent-rich division.

The prospect of marquee fights seems to be in the ether, most recently and notably thanks to Canelo Alvarez earning a controversial draw against Gennady Golovkin. And given Erislandy Lara’s own dicey history with Canelo, the ensuing and escalating debates about pound-for-pound merit and credentials circle back to the Cuban stalwart. Many feel Lara outboxed Canelo when they met in 2014 and being on the wrong end of a split decision verdict has led to divergent paths for both men.

“I feel I beat Canelo, but I can’t do anything about it now,” Lara told FanSided via email and through a translator. “I have to accept the fact that I got robbed. Moving forward, it doesn’t bother me because I’m still the champion with a bright future. All the fights since then I’ve come out victorious, so I can’t complain about my career, I’m happy where I’m at.”

Regardless of how one feels about the result of Canelo-Lara, it’s undeniable the Cuban has diligently toiled at the championship level, dominating solid opposition but failing to lure marquee names into the ring since that setback against his Mexican rival. Prior to that, Lara had defeated Austin Trout, Alfredo Angulo and gotten blatantly robbed against Paul Williams. Since, he’s had to settle for Ishe Smith, Delvin Rodriguez, Jan Zaveck, a rematch against Vanes Martirosyan and Yuri Foreman — hardly a murderers’ row.

That said, Erislandy Lara’s masterful boxing skills have always been obvious, and things may be on the uptick as he embarks on the final meaningful act of an already impressive career. While Lara is respectful of Gausha, the American hasn’t remotely burnished his credentials at the elite level and doesn’t represent the caliber of opponent Lara ought to be facing at this juncture. However, the obvious opportunity (not to mention pressure) to impress against Gausha, combined with headlining a card featuring Jarrett Hurd-Austin Trout and Jermell Charlo-Erickson Lubin, provides Lara with a unique opportunity.

An explosive or dominant win can remind fans of his status as the best junior middleweight in the world while serving notice to the division’s emerging talent that all meaningful paths go through him. Although Lara has had to chase more marketable and popular foes in the past, the reality that marquee match-ups might perpetually elude him going forward means that he can go about enhancing his legacy with a slew of substance over style victories in his weight class. That is why distinguishing himself on Oct. 14 is essential.

“It’s very important because we are all fighting on the same card with so much at stake,” Lara said. “Whoever shines the most will get all the attention. Most likely the winners will face each other in the near future.  My goal is to win and win impressively.”

The Cuban style of boxing that Erislandy Lara and Guillermo Rigondeaux embody so expertly has proven to be a tough sell to American audiences, devolving, at times, into unfair and outright disdain. Lara acknowledges that simple preference and biases play into this, which he firmly recognizes is out of his hands. What this means is that all he can focus on and control is “winning at any cost.”

But it is interesting to remind oneself of Lara’s natural talent, ring intelligence and to think about who, if anyone, would be clearly favored to beat him at (or around) junior middleweight. Although Lara hasn’t had the chance to display the breadth of his skills against a completely worthy foe since Canelo, that doesn’t negate what the eye test confirms: he’s still among the most effective and technically proficient boxers in the sport — that rare pugilist who exudes preternatural comfort inside the ring.

Whether Erislandy Lara can still be a pound-for-pound entrant, however, is contingent on multiple factors unfolding smoothly: he must outclass, impress and thrill against Terrell Gausha, and anything less won’t suffice; he also has to use this bout as the beginning of a relatively active stretch of the exclusively meaningful contest. Thus, as Lara notes, it will all come down to perception and preference.

“When it comes to the pound-for-pound list, it’s all on the opinion of the individual person and who he thinks is the best,” Lara said. “Everyone’s list will be different to a degree. I personally don’t pay any attention to those type of things, but if you really look deeper into my career, one can arguably say I should be undefeated.  But I don’t get emotional over pound-for-pound lists.”

Indeed, the stoic Cuban, who defected under dire circumstances and still longs to one day return home to see his family, has more pressing concerns than unresolvable hypothetical debates. He’ll just keep winning and let the rest fall into place. But despite his hundreds of amateur bouts, the reality that he is approaching his mid-30s and the knowledge that he only wants to seek out tougher fights, Erislandy Lara still has lofty ambitions, not to mention zero regrets.

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“I’m very happy right now in my career,” Lara said. “I’ve been able to come to the USA and live the American Dream, hence my nickname. My accomplishments speak for themselves, and more are coming. If I can manage to make it to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, then it will be icing on the cake.”