By Ian S Palmer
Brooklyn, New York will be the location of the vacant WBA Junior Middleweight Title showdown between southpaws Erislandy Lara of Cuba and American Austin Trout this Saturday, December 7. The 12-round bout is a part of a multi-fight card that will be broadcast in the U.S. on Showtime and in Canada by Super Channel. This is a tough bout for both boxers and it should be a treat for the fans. Lara is considered to be one of the best in the division and Trout is a former world champion.
Lara will enter the ring with an impressive record of 18-1-2 along with 12 Kos. Lara has recently beaten the hard-hitting Alfredo Angulo by a 10th-round TKO and Freddy Hernandez by unanimous decision. He also has a first-round TKO win over Ronald Hearns and draws against Carlos Molina and Vanes Martirosyan. His lone loss was by majority decision to Paul Williams back in 2011.
Lara had an excellent career as an amateur back in Cuba and he’s easily made the transformation to pro boxing. Like many Cuban amateurs he’s got tremendous defensive skills, but also throws enough punches to entertain the fans. He’s hard to hit and then makes his opponents pay the price by landing punishing counter shots. He’s got a fine jab and knows how to give angles.
The 28-year-old Trout who hails from Las Cruces, New Mexico, formerly held the WBA title and he climbs through the ropes with a 26-1 record with 14 Kos to his name. He lost his title in April to Mexican star Saul Alvarez by a unanimous decision. This is his first bout since his lone loss so he may be a little bit rusty to start with. He’s confident he can take Lara and regain his title and feels his opponent is more of a runner than a boxer.
Trout is a more aggressive boxer than Lara and this is reflected in his higher punch output per round. He’d rather throw power shots than set things up with his jab and that’s something he may want to reconsider against a boxer with the style of Lara. Trout needs to keep Lara on the defensive and throw fast combinations against somebody who may be more concerned about not getting hit than attacking.
Neither boxer has tremendous power, but they’re both capable of stopping the other if they get the chance. Lara will want to keep this contest as more of a boxing match than a slugfest while Trout needs to dictate the pace, push the action and force the Cuban to trade with him. It’s going to be hard to outbox Lara unless Trout is constantly throwing punches.
Lara is an awkward opponent for anybody because of his speed and accuracy. His power can’t be taken too lightly either. Trout was at his best when he beat former world champion Miguel Cotto last year, but he struggled against Alvarez in the spring. He’s going to have his hands full with Lara and this is going to be a close fight. When it’s all over look for Trout to have put on just enough pressure to take the vacant title by a very close and somewhat controversial decision.
