Erislandy Lara outboxes Greg Vendetti for unanimous decision win

Erislandy Lara still has something left in the tank as he easily outboxed the younger Greg Vendetti to retain his WBA junior middleweight title.

Massive underdog Greg Vendetti seemed optimistic about his chances against WBA “regular” junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara going into their PBC on FOX Saturday, Aug. 29 bout. Still, Lara proved to be levels ahead of the challenger.

During a media call leading up the fight, Vendetti said, “I look at it like this is just another human like me that I’m facing. He’s made of skin and bones, and I’m sure he has his doubts about himself. Maybe about his age and about if I can get to him. I don’t get intimidated by anything in the ring. I’m just really excited to test myself against one of the best fighters of this generation.”

Vendetti (22-4-1, 12 KOs) couldn’t quite pass the test against Lara, although he still deserves credit for a spirited performance against a legendary boxer.

Lara scored early in round 1 with a stinging left cross. Vendetti tried to walk Lara down in the guard, but couldn’t land much. Lara smashed a left uppercut to Vendetti’s jaw, which Vendetti took well.

Vendetti tried to make things ugly in round 2 by charging Lara. Lara quickly tied him up and resumed picking him apart with long punches on the outside. Vendetti closed the distance once again and landed a right, but couldn’t maintain the momentum. It was a better round for Vendetti but one he lost.

Greg Vendetti gave it his all, but he couldn’t sustain an attack against Erislandy Lara, who evaded him for most of the fight.

Lara put his right jab to work to start round 3. He tried to keep Vendetti away with that punch but had to use his legs to get away from the rushing Vendetti. There were some lulls in action as Vendetti looked for an opening, and Lara waited to counter. Eventually, Vendetti tried to jump in, which Lara countered every time.

Lara hurt Vendetti in the first 20 seconds of round 4 with a left cross that wobbled Vendetti. Lara stayed patient and continued to box on the outside. Vendetti didn’t do much other than eat Lara’s punches in this round.

Vendetti let his hands go to open round 5. He tried to make a statement by going to Lara’s body. Lara took much of the round off and still won it with clean counter punching.

Lara was on cruise control for the remainder of the night. Vendetti rushed as Lara effectively countered. Not much changed.

Vendetti had a solid round 9 and landed to Lara’s body, but Lara took the round off and never lost control. Vendetti never stopped trying, but he was outboxed by a superior pugilist.

After 12 rounds, the judges returned scores of 116-112 and two of 117-111 all for Lara. The only surprise is that one score was so close.

Lara would like a rematch with Canelo Alvarez, who beat him in 2014, but that’s highly unlikely. A bout with the winner of Jermell Charlo vs. Jeison Rosario is more likely since they are also signed to PBC. Lara is 37 years old but still elite.