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WBA Middleweight World Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (32-3-3, 19 KOs) score knockdowns in the first and last rounds to cruise to a unanimous decision over challenger Johan Gonzalez (36-5, 34 KOs) after 12 rounds. Lara took home the decision by scores of 120-106, 119-107 and 118-108.
“Gonzalez came to fight and he came to win,” said Lara. “We knew him a little bit, so we were ready for that and we made the adjustments we needed to make. He was a tough opponent who had a great opportunity in front of him, but we executed the game plan.”
“I spend all my time at the gym, so I had no problem being ready for this fight,” said Gonzalez. There are no excuses, but I did feel that Lara didn’t come to fight me the way he said he would.”
Cuba’s Lara set the tone early, delivering a blistering straight left that put Gonzalez on the mat late in round one. While he wasn’t able to close the show in the opening frame, Gonzalez was hesitant offensively for a few rounds as a result.
“I felt a little uncomfortable in the first few rounds,” said Gonzalez. “The first knockdown was a punch and a slip. The second was a clean shot from Lara.”
Stepping in to challenge Lara on short notice this week, Gonzalez tried his best to trap the elusive Lara on the ropes and hammer him with chopping shots, but was regularly met with sharp counters. In round five, Lara staggered Gonzalez with a pair of crisp left hands that again helped to keep Gonzalez at bay.
Lara continued to show his ring mastery throughout the remaining frames, landing hard lefts ensuring that none of Gonzalez’s shots amounted to much besides glancing blows. In the final seconds of the bout, Lara punctuated his victory with a hard series of shots that dropped Gonzalez for the second time.
“I showed the world that I’m 42-years-old and I’m still at the top of my game,” said Lara. “I can compete with the best. I don’t care at all about Janibek and I don’t wanna talk about him anymore.”
#LaraGonzalez #ErislandyLara #JohanGonzalez
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