Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight title against alternate opponent Johan Gonzalez in the co-feature this Saturday night, December 6, at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Lara’s scheduled opponent, IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhnuly, tested positive for a PED. This made it necessary to pull him off the map.
Gonzalez walks in late
box insider, Then Rafael, revealed the news of 34-year-old Venezuelan native Johan Gonzalez (36-4, 34 KOs), who is the alternate opponent for Lara.
Johan has lost two of his last five fights since 2024, while scoring knockouts against junior middleweights Yoenis Tellez and Jesus Ramos Jr. at 154. In Gonzalez’s last fight, he squeaked by 35-year-old former two-time 154-lb champion Jarrett Hurd with a 1,002-round, 1,025-round decision.
Earlier today it was reported that Janibek tested positive for the PED Meldonium. He immediately responded to X and said he was “surprised” by the result, and that he wanted a retest. However, he was still removed from the map. It is unclear whether he will be stripped, fined and suspended if his retest is also flagged.
This is a real negative for Janibek’s career as he has been chasing WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames for over a year for a unification fight.
Will Lara keep the co-feature slot?
As for Erislandy Lara’s replacement, it’s not much of a contender for the pricey $74.99 PPV event on Amazon Prime Video. There’s no word yet on whether Lara’s fight will remain in the co-op slot. It wouldn’t make sense to keep him in that slot as his opponent has been knocked out twice since 2024 and has lost two of his last five fights.
To keep Lara this high on the card, he would need someone solid like Yoenli Hernandez, Jesus Ramos Jr., or Meiirim Nursultanov to bring in as the replacement. It would be too risky for the 42-year-old Lara to fight a young gun on short notice.
Last updated on 12/02/2025
