By Rick Reeno

Undefeated junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara (15-0-1, 10KOs) was impressed with Nobuhiro Ishida's first round stoppage of previously undefeated James Kirkland, which took place last Saturday on the Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Ishida (23-6, 8KOs) dropped Kirkland three times before the fight was waved off. Lara, who plans to return in June, is hoping his world ranking will entice Ishida to take the fight.

"I would love to fight him next. He can show the world the Kirkland fight was not a fluke. I believe the fight can be made as I'm with Golden Boy and he just fought on their card, so it's definitely something that can be done. I'm #3 in the WBA [rankings] and if he can defeat me, he can put himself in position to win back his title. Let's do it. I think that he's a very good fighter and I think it would be a great fight," Lara told BoxingScene.com.