Cuban prospect Erislandy Lara suffered the first hiccup of his professional career Friday night, slogging his way to a majority draw against Carlos Molina at the Cosmopolitan Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.. Molina, 17-4-2, is a tough, crafty practitioner who was able to take advantage of the 27 year old?s one-dimensional attack and uninspiring defense.
Lara, 15-0-1, is a southpaw with a right hand that doesn?t provide much of a threat. Hard, scoring jabs have yet to be added to his arsenal, nor is he comfortable with throwing lead or counter right hooks. His right mainly functions as a prop to set up a straight left hand or left uppercut. His inside work, body work, counters, and combination punching all suffer as a result.
Similarly, his unimaginative defense leaves him vulnerable on the inside. It looked like Molina only landed one flush punch that wasn?t a body shot or an uppercut ? a nice left hook in the 8th stanza ? so Lara does a solid job of covering up his head. But covering up with his elbows high is largely all he does, which leaves his midsection open to be thrashed at will. When the Cuban isn?t using his feet to keep distance, he?s susceptible to being blitzed with a body attack and uppercuts between the gloves.
Carlos Molina, despite a nearly two year layoff, didn?t show much rust in taking advantage of Lara?s weaknesses in the first three rounds. He consistently raked Lara?s right side with left hooks, and started finding his mark with his uppercut in the third round. Lara attempted to time him with left uppercuts of his own, but found his opponent harder to hit than he anticipated. Commentators Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas noted Lara?s lack of activity, but consistent activity is an imposing task for a fighter who isn?t comfortable with using both hands.
In rounds four and five, Lara was able to maintain a healthy distance and time Molina with lead left hands to the body and head. He temporarily turned the tide by picking up the pace.
In rounds five through eight, Molina, Chicago, Illinois, but originally from Patzcuaro, Michoac?n de Ocampo, Mexico, was able to slip Lara?s predictable one-two combinations and continue the successful body attack he deployed in the early rounds.
Lara came back to finally have a dominant round in the ninth. He managed to land a few right hooks in the first 30 seconds of the stanza, which provided a glimpse of what he could be with a two-handed attack. Later in the round, he landed his only eye-catching blow of the fight, a straight left that violently snapped Molina?s head back.
The final round was a sloppy one, featuring two tired fighters trying to close the show, which equated to more clinches than effective punches. Lara landed a solid left hand that might have edged the round.
The scorecards ? with two that read 95-95, and one that had Molina winning 97-93 ? didn?t differ much from my 96-94 tally for Molina, but it was clear that Molina was the more well-rounded and seasoned pugilist inside the ring. Erislandy Lara, two and a half years into his professional career, learned a lesson on the importance of versatility.
The lessons will be more punishing as he continues to step up in class unless he develops his right hand.
