Angulo and Lara Have Big Fight Opportunities at Stake

By Keith Idec

The Erislandy Lara-Alfredo Angulo fight Saturday night has been sanctioned by the WBA as an interim super welterweight championship match.

The winner therefore will emerge from this fight in a good position, no matter what’s next. Lara (17-1-2, 11 KOs) and Angulo (22-2, 18 KOs) made it clear on a recent conference call that they’re fully focused on one another, but both boxers also acknowledged that they hope their high-stakes showdown leads to a higher-profile fight against Miguel Cotto.

The popular Puerto Rican star is expected to return to the ring Sept. 28 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs) hasn’t chosen an opponent, though 40-year-old former IBF 154-pound champion Cornelius Bundrage (32-5, 19 KOs, 1 NC) is rumored to be the front-runner.

After losing his last fight to another skilled southpaw in Austin Trout, the 30-year-old Lara probably isn’t near the top of Cotto’s list of preferred opponents. Nevertheless, the Cuban-born Lara is holding out hope that he can land a fight of that magnitude.

“I would love to fight a fighter like Cotto,” said Lara, now based in Miami. “He’s a great fighter. He’s one of the top guys. He’s on the list of guys that I would want to fight. … He’s one of the top guys there and if the fight presents itself after this fight then, of course, I would want [that] fight.”

An Angulo-Cotto clash probably would be more appealing to Cotto, as well as the majority of fans, but Mexico’s Angulo knows he has a very difficult fight ahead of him Saturday night at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

“I don’t have another name in my head,” said Angulo, 30, who now resides in Coachella, Calif. “Right now it’s June 8. I have to keep focused on June 8 and win the fight.”

The Lara-Angulo battle will be one of three fights televised Saturday night by Showtime, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The tripleheader also will include a 12-round welterweight bout between Argentina’s Marcos Maidana (33-3, 30 KOs) and Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KOs, 1 NC), of Riverside, Calif., and a 12-round junior middleweight match that’ll pit Philadephia’s Demetrius Hopkins (33-2-1, 13 KOs) against Houston’s Jermell Charlo (20-0, 10 KOs).

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.