By Ian S Palmer
Erislandy Lara of Cuba is set to take on Ishe Smith of Las Vegas at the Illusions Theater in San Antonio, Texas this Friday, December 12. The 12-round bout junior middleweight bout is for Lara’s WBA title, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the organization’s super WBA Champion. Therefore, the WBA rakes in more sanctioning fees. Lara climbs through the ring ropes with a record of 19-2-2 with 12 Kos while Smith is 26-6 and has 12 Kos to his name.
The 31-year-old Lara is a southpaw who stands 5-feet-9-inches tall and has a 75-inch reach while the 36-year-old Smith is 5-foot-10 and has a 71-inch wingspan. Lara has a total of 132 pro rounds under his belt while Smith has gone 192 rounds. Lara had an excellent amateur career and Smith is known as the first ever Las Vegas-born boxer to hold a world championship. He achieved this when he took the IBF Jr. Middleweight crown from Cornelius Bundrage via a majority decision in February of 2013. However, he lost it seven months later when Carlos Molina beat him by a split decision.
Lara has been involved in several controversial decisions so far in his career, especially when he loses, such as he did to Paul Williams back in 2011 and to Saul Alvarez earlier this year. However, Lara really has himself to blame because he simply doesn’t show enough urgency in his fights and doesn’t throw enough punches. He assumes he’s winning rounds on points and just glides through them rather than putting in the effort needed to make sure he wins them.
Lara just isn’t an aggressive boxer and he’s not the most exciting guy to watch in the ring. He has plenty of skill, speed, and talent, but fans only see them in flashes. Smith isn’t the type of boxer to bring the best of Lara out either since he’s more of a defensive counterpuncher than an aggressive pressure fighter. Fans could be in for a technical chess match here rather than an exciting tilt. This is Smith’s toughest opponent up to now and at age 36 he’s going to need to win to get another title shot.
Lara has good power and can control distance and the pace while Smith doesn’t have the power in his punches to keep Lara at bay. Most boxers would take advantage of Smith’s lack of power and wade right in, but Lara will attempt to outbox him. Smith’s best chance here is to just keep throwing punches to the body and head and make sure Lara doesn’t get into any kind of groove. He’s going to have to make sure he doesn’t leave any wide openings for Lara to counter him though.
Prediction
Lara has the better boxing skills in this matchup, but Smith may have more determination. Smith doesn’t have the power to stop him so he has to take a decision here and that’s a mountain that’s too tall to climb. Expect Smith to put in a good effort, but to come up short when the scorecards are read after 12 rounds. Lara wins by a relatively comfortable margin.
