Boxing’s oldest current titlist prevailed against the sport’s newest first-time title challenger.
Erislandy Lara toyed with late-notice opponent Johan Gonzalez, scoring two knockdowns en route to a lopsided unanimous decision victory. Scores were 118-108, 119-107 and 120-106 for Lara, who retained his WBA 160lbs title Saturday evening at Frost Bank Center, home of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
Lara, 32-3-3 (19 KOs), entered the ring at age 42 and having not fought since a September 2024 stoppage win over former two-division titlist Danny Garcia. He didn’t show any signs of ring rust, jumping out to a strong start against an overmatched challenger in Gonzalez. The bout’s first knockdown came midway through the opening round. A blistering left hand connected for Lara, who then squatted and taunted in Gonzalez’s direction before referee Mark Nelson instructed him to head to a neutral corner.
Gonzalez, 36-5 (34 KOs), managed to get his offense untracked in the second. He was all smiles in between rounds – and for good reason, as this fight wasn’t even on his radar until Tuesday. The Vegas-based Venezuelan replaced IBF and WBO 160lbs titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly, 17-0 (12 KOs), who produced an adverse finding for elevated levels of meldonium, a banned substance.
The title-challenging debutant was all business as he began to find a home for his right hand. Lara took the shots well and remained in control, largely through his own left hand – at least on the occasions when he remembered to throw it.
Action was slowed to a crawl in the third, a cardinal sin among the fight-friendly fans on hand in San Antonio who lustily booed the lull. Lara kept his distance for much of the round, but he connected with a straight left to briefly rock Gonzalez inside the final 30 seconds.
Gonzalez targeted the body in the opening minute of the fourth round. Lara momentarily found his back against the ropes before he quickly slipped out of harm’s way. Gonzalez continued to come forward, though largely to the tune of ineffective aggression. Lara boxed off the back foot and was able to pepper his challenger with left hands.
Lara found an opportunity to pick up the pace in the fifth, and again had Gonzalez hurt. Consecutive straight lefts drove back Gonzalez into the ropes. It was the highlight of yet another low-output round, as his jab controlled the slow-moving affair.
Gonzalez walked straight towards Lara to start the sixth, though his effort didn’t produce any favorable results. Lara sat back in the pocket and mixed in right jabs with occasional straight lefts. Gonzalez’s conditioning – training as a standby opponent and for a major title are two different animals, after all – became a concern as he was visibly gasping by this point. Lara’s deliberate pace kept the old dog well-preserved as he was content to pile up rounds.
The same trend carried over to and throughout the painfully dull second half of the night.
Lara was understandably comfortable fighting at a deliberate pace. Gonzalez threw more punches in nearly every round but was also outlanded in all of those frames.
One of the more memorable – if comical – moments of the rest of the fight came during a clash of heads in the ninth. Both boxers missed wildly with their power shots and then slammed into one another. Gonzalez managed to land a low blow during the sequence, just to add insult to literal injury.
There were moments in the 10th when Lara had Gonzalez hurt to the point that he could have closed the show if he threw more than one punch at a time. That sentiment was echoed by renowned cornerman Ismael Salas, who instructed his charge to take advantage of those moments and not always settle for just winning an exchange.
It didn’t quite take, though Lara threatened to break out of his shell in the 12th and final round. It took Gonzalez letting his hands go and later taunting the old veteran, but Lara added an exclamation point to the shutout win with a second knockdown on the night.
The moment came in the closing seconds of the contest. Gonzalez flailed his arms in the air and even stomped his feet demanding that Lara engage. The defending titlist responded with left hands down the middle, as Gonzalez’s knees buckled before a final shot sent him to the canvas. He beat the count but only just to make it to the bell and hear the lopsided scorecards in his opponent’s favor.
The performance and verdict were polar opposites of Gonzalez’s previous performance. He was nine months removed from an upset win over former unified 154lbs titlist Jarret Hurd – fittingly, the last fighter to hang a loss on Lara, back in their memorable April 2018 WBA/IBF unification clash.
Lara is now unbeaten in eight fights since that night. His victory on Saturday marked his third successful defense of the full version of the WBA 160lbs title after he was upgraded in 2023.
Lara-Gonzalez served as part of a four-fight pay-per-view event. Headlining the show, secondary WBC 140lbs titlist Isaac Cruz defends against Lamont Roach Jnr.
