As first reported by Rick Reeno at BoxingScene.com moments ago, former welterweight and junior middleweight champion Paul Williams will return to the ring on July 9th when he faces off with unbeaten Cuban Erisandy Lara in Atlantic City. The fight is crucial to both fighters as they are each coming off of performances that saw their stock drop.
In November Williams was crushed by a single left hook from Sergio Martinez in their rematch that left him out for the count. Williams had nipped the Argentinean via split-decision one year earlier in a fight that saw the two men trade knockdowns in the first round and heavy leather throughout the fight.
Lara was last seen at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas having a much tougher time than expected with Chicago’s Carlos Molina. Lara had serious trouble with Molina’s movement and appeared to be outworked for much of the fight. A fight with Williams will give him the chance to erase the bad taste from that performance.
I rang up Lara’s manager Luis DeCubas Jr. moments ago and he confirmed that the fight is a go and spoke on the importance of the clash.
“It’s signed. It’s a great opportunity for Lara. A huge fight. Both guys didn’t look too good in their last fight. With Lara, things went wrong in his camp but one night doesn’t chance nothing really. He’ll be ready. It’s whether or not Paul Williams will be ready for him,” DeCubas stated.
The southpaw showdown will be featured on HBO’s Boxing After Dark in a fight that could make or break either man’s career.
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
