WBA, IBO super welterweight world champion Erislandy Lara (25-2-1, 14 KOs) retained his titles on Saturday night, when he dropped and dominated previously undefeated United States Olympian Terrell Gausha at Barclays Center in New York City.
The fight was part of a Showtime televised tripleheader, which saw two other world title fights take place on the undercard.
In the co-feature, WBC junior middleweight world champion Jermell Charlo knocked out Erickson Lubin with a brutal right uppercut to the chin in the opening round. And opening up the card, IBF junior middleweight world champion Jarrett Hurd rallied to break down and stop former beltholder Austin Trout in the tenth round.
In his next fight, Lara is hoping to face either Hurd or Charlo - and he doesn't really care which of the two come for him.
"Absolutely I want to unify. That's what I'm here for - to win all the belts," Lara said "Hopefully one of these young guns will step up to the plate and fight me. I will show everybody I'm the best in the 154-pound division, and I'm here for a long time. It's very important to bring this world title back to the people of Houston. There's been a lot of tragedy in Houston, and I hope with this win it brings just a little bit of joy to my fans and people going through a hard time."
Lara is looking to eventually move up in weight, but first he wants to unify the junior middleweight division. He wants to fight younger guys coming up. The only champion unlikely to face him, is WBO beltholder Miguel Cotto, who is slated to retire at the end of this year.
"I don't choose my fights, but I'm going to clean out the whole 154-pound division. There are a lot of young fighters now, but I'm going to just clean it out and show that I'm the best here," Lara said.
2023-10-19 18:15:47
