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The veteran Cuban professional boxer Erislandy Lara successfully defended his World Boxing Association middleweight title against Venezuelan Johan González this Saturday.
In a bout that took place at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, Lara (32-3-3, 19 knockouts), at the age of 42, displayed an unstoppable elusive style to win against the Venezuelan by unanimous decision (118-108, 119-107, and 120-106).
So much so that in the first round, Lara knocked down his opponent, known for his powerful punch.
González, who had become a last-minute rival for Lara after the doping positive of the Kazakh Janibek Alimkhanuly, the titleholder in the division within the World Boxing Organization and the International Boxing Federation, had a record of 36 victories, 34 of them by knockout.
After the initial round, Lara imposed his technical boxing style from the Cuban school and maintained superiority over his opponent at all times, much to the dissatisfaction of the crowd that wanted to see more exchanges.
Lara thus becomes the longest-reigning champion in professional boxing.
In the same matchup, another well-known Cuban veteran, Rancés Barthelemy, 40 years old, was knocked out by Frank El Fantasma Martin in the fourth round of the super lightweight division fight.
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