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Cuban standout Erislandy Lara returns to the ring on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada to take on challenger Ronald Hearns (26-2-0, 20 KOs) son of former world champion Thomas Hearns in a 10-round middleweight fight on the undercard of Ortiz vs Berto II. Lara is coming off one of boxing's worst decisions of the year when three New Jersey judges handed him a totally undeserved majority decision loss in his fight with Paul Williams this past July. Hearns is coming off a 7th round TKO loss to Felix Sturm in a WBA Super World middleweight title in February 2011. It appears that Hearns might have inherited his dad's suspect chin.
| Fight | Location | Date | Boxing Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lara vs Hearns | MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV |
February 11, 2012 Saturday 3:00 PM |
Lara vs Hearns & Ortiz vs Berto Tickets |
Erislandy Lara
Erislandy Lara, from Guantanamo, Cuba defected from Cuba in March 2008 via speedboat. He and Cuban national teammate Guillermo Rigondeaux previously made a failed attempt to defect during the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Lara, a southpaw who had 320 amateur fights was the 2005 World Amateur Champion at welterweight and had been a medal favorite for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing before Castro kicked him out off the Cuban National Team for his desertion attempt.
Erislandy Lara, who is as cunning and cagey in the ring as Cuban boxer Joel Casamajor joins other recent fellow Cuban defectors Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis, Yan Barthelemy and Guillermo Rigondeaux who are also boxing professionally in the United States.
Signing with German based boxing promoter Ahmet Oener of Arena Box Promotion, Erislandy Lara made his pro debut on July 4, 2008 at the Bueyuek Anadolu Hotel in Ankara, Turkey where he beat Russian Ivan Maslov (3-1-1, 0 KOs) by points in a 4-round bout.
On Saturday, December 12, 2009 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois, Erislandy Lara beat Mexican Luciano Perez (17-10-1, 15 KOs) by 10-round unanimous decision. The fight which aired live on HBO took place on the undercard of Juan Diaz vs Paul Malignaggi II with Lara pitching a shutout. Scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91.
Erislandy Lara beat The Contender season two winner Grady Brewer (26-12-0, 15 KOs) by 10th round TKO on Friday, January 29, 2010 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lara dropped Brewer and followed up with a barrage of punches prompting referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight at 2:44 of round ten. The fight took place on the Campillo vs Shumenov fight card promoted by KZ Event Productions and Golden Boy Promotions and was televised live on FOX.
On Friday, April 2, 2010 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Erislandy Lara beat Danny Perez (34-7-0, 17 KOs) by 10th round unanimous decision. Scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 99-91. Lara boxed well winning in an anticlimactic fashion. The fight card televised live on Showtime was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Lara defeated Puerto Rican William Correa (8-4-0, 8 KOs) by 1st round TKO on Friday, July 9, 2010 at the Softball Country Complex in Denver, Colorado. Correa was down twice in round one before the referee waved off the bout at 2:34 of round one. Lara vs Correa headlined the Telefutura fight card promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Lara beat southpaw Willie Lee (17-7-0, 11 KOs) by 1st round TKO in a light middleweight fight on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at the Monroe Civic Center Arena in Monroe, Louisiana. Lee, who doesn't have a good beard went down from a jab to the chin about one minute into the fight only to get up and be backed up to the ropes and hit with a barrage of punches until referee Laurence Cole waved off the fight. Lara vs Lee headlined the ESPN2 fight card promoted by Kerry Daigle of Keeppunching Entertainment and Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing.
Erislandy Lara defeated Tim Connors (10-2-0, 7 KOs) by TKO at 1:38 of round one in a mismatch on the undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez vs Michael Katsidis on Saturday, November 27, 2010 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to his quick victory Lara won the vacant WBA Fedelatin light middleweight title. Lara vs Connors took place on the untelevised portion of the Marquez vs Katsidis fight card.
Lara knocked out Delray "The Rainmaker" Raines (18-9-1, 13 KOs) at 2:59 of round one on Friday, January 14, 2011 at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. Headlining TeleFutura's Solo Boxeo fight card Lara hit overmatched Raines with a right to the head and a left to the kisser that put Raines flat his ass on the canvas and down for the count. This makes four first round knockout wins in a row for Lara.
Top boxing prospect Erislandy Lara fought to a 10-round majority draw with Mexican Carlos Molina (17-4-2, 5 KOs) of Chicago, Illinois on Friday, March 25, 2011 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada on ESPN Friday Night Fights. Scores were 95-95, 95-95 and 93-97. Molina came to fight outworking Lara.
Lara lost by a terrible 12-round majority decision to Paul Williams (40-2-0, 27 KOs) at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, July 9, 2011. Scores redendered by the incompetent judges were 114-114, 114-115 and 114-116. Ringside announcers, color commentators and press row had Lara winning 10-2 or 9-3. Round after round Lara hit Williams repeatedly with overhand lefts and power shots, buckling Williams knees and blooding Williams face. Punch stats revealed that Lara landed a total of 42% of his punches compared to Williams 19%. Power shots, Lara 49% vs Williams 21%. Jabs, Lara 28% vs Williams 14%. Note: After video review of the fight the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board placed all three judges, Hilton Whitaker, Don Givens and Al Bennett on indefinite suspension and will require them to undergo additional training before being allowed to return to professional boxing judging.
