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By Cliff Rold - When a division gets hot, the payoff is extraordinary for fans. They get good fights, they get big fights, and sometimes they get both at the same time. When a single promoter dominates the landscape of a hot weight class, the thrills can keep on coming. Right now, Jr. Middleweight is hot.
Golden Boy Promotions has a big piece of the 154 lb. real estate.
The biggest financial draw in the sport, Floyd Mayweather, continues to do business with them and currently holds a belt (WBA) in class. One of the fastest rising financial stars, WBC titlist Saul Alvarez, also resides under their umbrella. All action banger James Kirkland also calls Golden Boy home.
Golden Boy also promotes the man who could be king.
What about him?
29-year old 2005 Amateur World Champion Erislandy Lara (16-1-1, 11 KO) hasn’t always had the same buzz as fellow Cuban expatriates Yuriorkis Gamboa and Guillermo Rigondeaux. Of the three, he should have the single most impressive victory. Given the chance to prove it, he might be the best fighter at Jr. Middleweight right now.
Last July, just months after a tough night in a draw against the cagey Carlos Molina, Lara had what should have been his breakthrough moment. For twelve rounds, he beat the brakes off former two-division titlist Paul Williams, producing a clinic of powerful left hand punching.
At the end, it was Williams who had his hand raised in victory and the howls of those who witnessed the verdict were heard in the halls of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission. Not a single one of the judges that night, not Donald Givens (116-114 Williams), not Hilton Whitaker (115-114 Williams), not Al Bennett (114-114), has judged a professional boxing match since. All were placed on indefinite suspension following the controversial verdict. [Click Here To Read More]
Golden Boy Promotions has a big piece of the 154 lb. real estate.
The biggest financial draw in the sport, Floyd Mayweather, continues to do business with them and currently holds a belt (WBA) in class. One of the fastest rising financial stars, WBC titlist Saul Alvarez, also resides under their umbrella. All action banger James Kirkland also calls Golden Boy home.
Golden Boy also promotes the man who could be king.
What about him?
29-year old 2005 Amateur World Champion Erislandy Lara (16-1-1, 11 KO) hasn’t always had the same buzz as fellow Cuban expatriates Yuriorkis Gamboa and Guillermo Rigondeaux. Of the three, he should have the single most impressive victory. Given the chance to prove it, he might be the best fighter at Jr. Middleweight right now.
Last July, just months after a tough night in a draw against the cagey Carlos Molina, Lara had what should have been his breakthrough moment. For twelve rounds, he beat the brakes off former two-division titlist Paul Williams, producing a clinic of powerful left hand punching.
At the end, it was Williams who had his hand raised in victory and the howls of those who witnessed the verdict were heard in the halls of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission. Not a single one of the judges that night, not Donald Givens (116-114 Williams), not Hilton Whitaker (115-114 Williams), not Al Bennett (114-114), has judged a professional boxing match since. All were placed on indefinite suspension following the controversial verdict. [Click Here To Read More]
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