Erislandy Lara (30-3-3 18 KOs) looks to continue his WBA Middleweight Championship reign next Saturday, September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against former two-division champion Danny Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) , Nevada.
The bout will be the co-main event for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga card. A star-studded card that also features PBC stars Caleb Plant and Rolando Romero.
Danny Garcia makes his return to the ring after a 2-year layoff and makes his middleweight debut against Lara. His last match against Jose Benavidez Jr. was his first and only match at 154 pounds, and he is now moving up to 160.
Can Danny be successful at middleweight? Garcia had great success in the lightweight divisions, but once he moved up to welterweight, he began to struggle. He suffered his first loss at welterweight to Keith Thurman and had additional losses to Shawn Porter and Errol Spence.
Boxers get bigger and stronger as one progresses through weight classes, and that’s what Danny Garcia experienced. His record at 147 pounds or heavier stands at 7-3, a winning record but not the dominance he once displayed at the lighter weight classes, 30-0.
On September 14, he’ll face an aging Lara who isn’t as nimble, elusive or mobile as she once was. At 41, Lara has become an economical puncher who aims to land effective power punches. He has scored a knockout in four of his last five fights.
Danny himself has become less mobile, but will need to use in-and-out movement if he intends to go the distance against the bigger Lara. So far, Garcia has shown he has a good chin, but that will be tested at middleweight.
Lara has a 6.5-inch reach advantage against Danny, and he’ll know how to use it. He’ll set up with the jab, throw it at a distance, looking for the perfect opening to land the straight left.
Garcia will need to stay out of range to reduce Lara’s effectiveness. This will be Danny’s second fight in four years, and inactivity could diminish his sharpness and timing. He had a healthy output, throwing over 700 punches in his last two full 12-round bouts against Errol Spence and Jose Benavidez Jr. (Compubox).
He’ll need to keep up that output if he’s going to send Lara out. It has been almost five years since Garcia scored his last knockout against Adrian Granados. He is highly unlikely to score a knockout in his middleweight debut against the bigger, taller and stronger Lara.
Erislandy knows Danny is a step up in competition from his previous five opponents. The biggest question is how will Danny fair against middleweight? Lara was a technical, smooth boxer for much of his career. Age has caused him to be less mobile and fight a lot more in the pocket.
He is now a very patient fighter who calculates every punch. He will use his experience, long reach and strength to keep Danny at bay. If Garcia can’t make adjustments coming inside, he’s going to have a very challenging night.
 looks to continue his WBA middleweight championship reign against former two-division champion Danny Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) next){kind=link}