Lara's Interview

by Lem Satterfield Junior middleweights Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout have each expressed the desire to face each other in what would be a clash of southpaw contenders, meaning that all it will take is for their mutual advisor, Al Haymon, to work out a deal for a matchup that would likely be promoted by Golden Boy. Lara (18-1-2, 12 knockouts) rose from knockdowns in the fourth and ninth rounds to score a 10th-round stoppage of Alfredo Angulo last month that helped him to rebound from a disputed draw with Vanes Martirosyan in November of last year. Trout (26-1, 14 KOs) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to RING champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez last April. A Lara-Trout fight would pair two young veterans widely considered to be among the best 154-pounders this side of Alvarez, who will be facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 14. ******.com spoke to Lara about his recent victory over Angulo and his desire to meet Trout in this Q&A below. ******.com: What did you learn from your last fight with Angulo? Erislandy Lara: Angulo is a very difficult fight for anyone. He applies tremendous amounts of pressure, but I love fighting guys like him. As an amateur or pro, I had never been dropped in a fight before, so I learned how to deal with that adversity and made it fan-friendly fight, so I'm happy. RTV: What did you demonstrate by rising from the canvas twice? EL: It showed that I will do whatever it takes to win a fight, and that I have a big heart to win. I have to give a lot of credit to my team for getting me in great shape and having the right diet to be strong coming into the fight. It was a good lesson, moving forward in my career. RTV: Was the resulting action in the fight the result of your underestimating Angulo or did you fight the right fight? EL: I fought the right fight for the fans. My last fight, I had a fractured knuckle entering the fight and couldn't put on an exciting performance, and I still won. But fans weren't happy. I want to put on action fights, moving forward. RTV: Is there anything you would have done differently against Angulo in retrospect? EL: I might have clinched him up a bit when hurt, but I feel I gave the fans a great night of boxing. Those are the things you learn from these experiences. RTV: What do you believe led to Angulo's resigning and essentially -- I don't want to say quitting -- but turning and walking away, leading to the stoppage? EL: I was hitting Angulo with a lot of shots to that eye. I can see that the swelling was affecting him, so I kept targeting him there. I think he took enough punishment and saved his career by turning away. There was no need for him to continue if he was badly hurt, which he was, and I was coming on strong. RTV: Do you believe that you would have eventually knocked him out, and, if so, why and how? EL: Yes, I believe I would have stopped him because he was starting to get reckless and he knew he was behind and felt he could try to put me away, and that's how I walked him into the fight-ending punch. I was ready to turn up the pace. RTV: Would you like to fight Austin Trout next? EL: Since Canelo and Mayweather are fighting, Austin Trout is someone that I would fight. If you look around, I don't want to wait to fight the best guys I want them now. I don't want to wait, so let's get it on. He says he wants it, I want it, let's do it. RTV: If you and Trout wind up fighting, how do you believe that fight would go? EL: Since Trout and I are southpaws, it would be interesting. I feel I would stop him. There's a difference between getting hurt and trying to survive and getting hurt and weathering the storm and fighting hard. If we fight, and I hurt him, I will look to stop him and not let him survive. RTV: Would you like to be on the Mayweather card? EL: I want to fight the best guys and looks like Trout is the best available guy so if it’s on that card or any time I'm ready.