By Ian S Palmer
WBA regular Middleweight Champion Erislandy Lara of Cuba takes on Gary O’Sullivan of Ireland at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York this Saturday, May 28th. The 12-rounder can be seen live in America on Showtime pay-per-view on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis vs Rolando Romero tilt. Lara won the vacant title by stopping Thomas Lamanna in just 80 seconds last May. O’Sullivan last saw action in May as well when he beat Nodar Robakidze via a six-round unanimous decision.
The 39-year-old Lara is a southpaw who now fights out of Houston, Texas. He climbs into the ring at 28-3-3 with 16 Ko’s under his belt. He’s elusive with a lot of boxing skills but doesn’t have too much in the way of one-punch power as his knockout ratio currently stands at 47.1 per cent. He’s just 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 75-inch wingspan and is also a former IBO and WBA Junior Middleweight champion.
He won the IBO belt by beating Delvin Rodriguez via unanimous decision in June, 2015 sand captured the interim WBA title in June, 2013 by stopping Alfredo Angulo in the 10th round after being dropped in the fourth and ninth rounds. He defended his belts against the likes of Yuri Foreman, Vanes Martirosyan, Delvin Rodriguez, Ishe Smith and Jan Zaveck.
Meanwhile, his three defeats have all been controversial and came at the hands of former champ Jarrett Hurd by split decision in April, 2018, to Paul Williams by majority decision in 2011 and a split decision to Saul Alvarez in 2014. He also fought to a nine-round technical decision draw with Vanes Martirosyan in 2012, a 10-round majority draw with Carlos Molina a year earlier and a 12-round draw with Brian Castano in 2019 .
Lara is an excellent technical boxer and his power may be a bit underrated. He’s boxed 226 rounds since turning pro in 2008. Before that he enjoyed an excellent amateur career in which he won numerous titles, including three straight national crowns in Cuba as a welterweight. He has a bit of an awkward style but has become more fan friendly lately by letting his hands go and throwing more power shots. He’s sometimes dominant, too defensive and hard to hit and that can lead to boring fights.
O’Sullivan of Cork, is now 37 years old and will climb through the ropes with a mark of 31-4 including 21 Kos. He made his pro debut in 2008 and has boxed 159 rounds since. Along the way he’s won the American Fighting Organization Super Welterweight Title as well as the Irish, WBO International, WBO Inter-Continental, and WBA-NABA Middleweight Titles. He’s 5-feet-10-inches tall with an unlisted reach, so is an inch taller than Lara.
As far as his losses go, he failed to come out for the eighth round against Chris Eubank Jr. in their December, 2015 bout and he was stopped by former middleweight belt holder David Lemieux in the first round in September 2018. He dropped a unanimous decision to Billy Joe Saunders for the vacant WBO International Middleweight Title in July, 2013 and his last defeat was an 11th-round TKO to Jaime Munguia in January, 2020.
O’Sullivan possesses pretty good power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 60 per cent. However, he struggles when stepping up in class with his best wins coming against the likes of Matthew Hall, Milton Nunez, Melvin Betancourt, Jaime Barboza and Antoine Douglas. O’Sullivan’s a a fan-friendly boxer though whose aggressive style has gotten him this far.
Prediction…
O’Sullivan and Lara have contrasting styles and this fight should be a boxer vs brawler scenario. The matchup definitely favours Lara though even though he is pushing 40 years old. Lara has way more experience against top-level opponents and his solid chin and superior boxing skills should guide him to victory even though O’Sullivan will give it his best.
