Lara's Legacy And Middleweight's Missing Star

Erislandy Lara has strung together one of boxing's strangest championship runs, and Bad Left Hook's Scott Christ can't help but admire it.

In a mailbag column published Friday, Christ traced Lara's résumé from August 2019 forward — a stretch that includes world-title defenses against Greg Vendetti, Spike O'Sullivan, and a blown-up Danny Garcia, none of whom qualified as serious contenders. "Every one of those fights for a world title," Christ wrote. "And all that time, you can't even say Lara's a draw."

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What Lara's Late Career Says About Middleweight

The Cuban southpaw, now 43, gets credit for two absolute wars against Jarrett Hurd and Brian Castano before shifting into cruise mode, and Christ noted Lara was arguably robbed in losses to Paul Williams in 2011 and Canelo Álvarez in 2014. "Really good fighter, borderline great at his very best," he wrote. Lara faces Tim Tszyu next month, a test Christ gives him a chance to pass — though 43 is the age where any fight could be the one a fighter goes old.

On the broader middleweight picture, Christ sees real help finally arriving in 2027. He lists promising belt holders like Aaron McKenna and Yoelvis Hernandez, solid middle-class fighters including Janello Ramos and Nikita Katzourakis, and potential movers from junior middleweight like Xander Zayas and Vergil Ortiz Jr. His pick for the top dog at 160 by the end of next year: Jaron Ennis if he lands there, Zayas if not.

🎟️ Get tickets: Buy tickets to Erislandy Lara vs. Tim Tszyu on Ticketmaster →

Ennis faces Crawford in a rematch scenario floated by one reader, and Christ stuck with his Bud pick. "If all things are equal, both guys as good as they can be on the night, I just think Bud beats him until proven otherwise," he said. Christ also dismissed Bridgerweight as a solution to heavyweight size mismatches, calling it boxing's 900th division and saying cruiserweight has never connected outside Europe despite decades of effort. Lara's next defense is scheduled for December.

Photo by Nemesia Production on Unsplash

Original reporting:

• badlefthook.com — Boxing Mailbag: Middleweight’s future, Loma’s return, Lara, more | Bad Left Hook