By Rick Reeno
Sources close to the situation have advised BoxingScene.com that a deal has been reached for a junior middleweight bout between Paul "The Punisher" Williams (39-2, 27KOs) and undefeated Erislandy Lara (15-0-1, 10KOs). The fight is going to take place on an HBO televised date of July 9. The network had previously approved, and then rejected, a fight between Williams and Nobuhiro Ishida of Japan.
On this very website, back on April 20th, Lara challenged Williams to a fight. The unbeaten Cuban wants redeem himself after fighting to a lackluster ten round draw against Carlos Molina back in March. Williams is also looking to redeem himself. The former champion returns for the first time since suffering a two round knockout defeat to Sergio Martinez back in November.
