By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Erislandy Lara is still pining for a second chance.

It’s been 920 days – or two years, six months and five days, if you’d rather – since the skilled Cuban southpaw suffered the greatest disappointment of his professional boxing career.

That was July 12, 2014. And it ended with a split-decision loss to Canelo Alvarez in a catchweight bout that left a majority of observers thinking he’d deserved a better scorecard fate.

Fifty-five of 89 media members polled in the aftermath suggested Lara’s effort warranted no worse than a draw, and a third of that group had him ahead by anywhere from one to four points.

My card, incidentally, read 115-113 in his favor.

Such muddied scoring occasionally yields a rematch for clarity’s sake, but the victorious Mexican has thus far steered far clear – instead sandwiching the less-threatening likes of James Kirkland, Amir Khan and Liam Smith around a middleweight title win over Miguel Cotto in which the Puerto Rican weighed more than a pound lighter (153½) than Lara (155) had.

And while Alvarez has gone on to fill baseball and football stadiums and gleaming Las Vegas showplaces for those endeavors, Lara has been back on the second circuit rebuilding his brand with five straight wins against foes mainly recognizable to the hardest of the hardcore fans.

The most recent of those came Friday night in Miami, where he dispatched Yuri Foreman – an ex-title claimant and 2010 Cotto victim – with a single left uppercut in a makeshift outdoor venue just feet from the finish line at Hialeah Park Race Track. Foreman flopped on the canvas before rising on unsteady legs, but was clearly in no condition to continue as the match was waved off at 1:47 of Round 4.

It was Lara’s second date in 14 months at the 95-year-old facility, now home to its own gleaming casino, and the fourth defense of WBA 154-pound title he copped five months after the Canelo controversy.

He’s since picked up the IBO’s belt in the weight class, too, and entered the Foreman bout slotted second at 154 by the Independent World Boxing Rankings – trailing only Alvarez. But while the cinnamon-haired star has eyes on a 10-pound rise to meet countryman Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the spring, Lara is left to call out would-be dance partners in the comparative anonymity of basic cable.

canelo-lara (5)

Another of those targets, multi-belted middleweight Gennady Golovkin, also seems unlikely to take the bait anytime soon. In fact, Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, suggested that Lara is simply another in a line of fighters who use Triple-G as a means to generate headlines while knowing Golovkin is already committed to meet other opponents.

“Team Golovkin has seen a whole lot of fighters use his name and star power to promote their own careers without any intention of fighting him,” Loeffler said. “(Lara has) called GGG’s name many times without any intentions of fighting him and he called Canelo’s name also. They have the Chavez fight set as we have the (Daniel) Jacobs fight set.”

Nevertheless, Lara sat down for a quick post-Foreman chat in which he discussed the KO shot, pondered his immediate career options and described the feeling of fighting in his adopted hometown of Miami.

BoxingScene.com: Talk about the final punch. Great uppercut. Was it something that you'd scouted beforehand and thought Foreman would be vulnerable to, or just a shot you saw at that moment?

Lara: The uppercut is a punch that me and Ronnie have been working on in the gym. We saw the opening, set it up and it landed clean. It was an adjustment during the fight.

BoxingScene.com: We've talked in the past about fights you want and haven't been able to get. Do you think such an impressive KO helps your chances, or will it continue to convince big names to stay away?

Lara: I think it helps my chances of landing a big fight. The fact that I was able to stand my ground lets everybody know I can fight that style. So we will see.

BoxingScene.com: I know you mentioned Canelo and Golovkin in the aftermath. Has there been any recent contact with either of those camps, and is there any optimism that you'll get them?

Lara: I want to fight the best. I have the best team in boxing and I let them handle the business and I handle the boxing.

BoxingScene.com: If not, are there fights at 154 that'll satisfy you? Charlo brothers, anyone from 147 that might get you equally excited?

Lara: All the champions at 154 are fights that can be made in the future. The Charlos are my good friends, but this is a business, and I know we might have to face each other one day. Like I said I'm willing to fight the best.

BoxingScene.com: We've also talked in the past about you being able to fight in Miami. How was the experience? What did you think of the venue at Hialeah and the atmosphere in fight night?

Lara: I love fighting in Miami. I get a lot of support from the Cuban community. The venue is perfect. I love the weather in Miami and I feel comfortable when I fight here. It's incredible. The fans there are the best.

BoxingScene.com: We'd talked before about the changes in Cuba and the chances that one day you might be able to go back and reunite with family and friends. Since then, Fidel Castro died. I'm curious about your response when you first heard that news, and if you're still optimistic – given the election results in the U.S. as well – that relations will continue to improve and make your hopes possible?

Lara: I would enjoy very much to fight in Cuba one day, in front of all my family and friends back home. I'd rather stay away from commenting on anything political. I just want to fight and take care of my family.

* * * * * * * * * *

This week’s title-fight schedule:

No fights scheduled

Last week's picks: 2-0 (WIN: Lara, Davis)

2017 picks record: 2-0 (100 percent)

Overall picks record: 828-274 (75.1 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.