So, there has been talk of Erislandy Lara's next fight after he impressed yet again against Willie Lee. He has said that he has tried for Martinez, Angulo, Cintron, Bundrage and one other I can't remember off the top of my head. Teddy Atlas thought he could take on Cotto. Personally, I'm not so sure. But anyways, there is a lot of speculation on this young man's future. Over at the scene at which there is a great deal of boxing, there is an article in which Ishe Smith calls out Lara, saying that he was offered a fight, but was never contacted again, even though he accepted. Would this be a good fight, a step back, or should he look for a differenct matchup? Are the previous mentioned fighters: Martinez, Angulo, etc. good options or is he ready for that level of opposition? I truly have no idea who he is ready for at the top level.
In my opinion, Lara will beat Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik, Kermit Cintron, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, Fernando Guerrero, Shawn Porter, Cornelius Bundrage, Cory Spinks, and Daniel Jacobs, but will lose to Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-0), Damian Jonak (27-0), Kostyantyn Rovenskyy (14-0), Anton Novikov (16-0) , Dmytro Nikulin (21-0) , and Nefzi Ayoub (15-0)
I also think Corey Spinks would be a good step in the right direction. He's definitely not what he once was but better then the opposition Lara's been facing.
He might beat K-9 right now, but all it would do is give him a paper title he would have to defend. Sechew Powell, Austin Trout, Ossie Duran, Shawn Porter, and Ishe Smith are all better fighters than anyone Lara has faced so far. Or, if his team feels like he is ready for an even bigger step up, there's Martirosyan, David Lopez, and a few others. I'm not particularly high on Lara, but I do think he has some potential. I would hate to see him take an unnecessary ass whoopin' by stepping up to far all at once.
hmmm, Corey Spinks would be a safe step up... Ishe Smith would be a risky step up in his current development, but would spike him into legitimate B+ class status if he gets the win... Definitely a fight everyone would watch from ESB
You see, the problem with Lara is that he had some fluke victories over tough, Euro-level talents in the Amateurs, who, in my opinion, were weight drained, robbed by judges, and/or having off nights. Lara will use these fluke victories as an excuse to duck tough, Euro-level fighters in the pros. He will feast on second-rate American fighters such as Andre Direll, Cory Spinks, and Andre Berto. He will retire with a 41-0(25) record and be called great even after having ducked all the Eurotalents of his era.
Spinks is shot to ****. He'd represent no type of test for Lara. Just a name to pad Lara's record. I say Lara should fight K9, grab a title, and defend it vs Angulo. Unless Perro requests 5 mill.