To call Lara clever doesn?t do him justice. He has mastered as many Cubans have mastered the art of hitting and not being hit in return?
Winning isn?t the most important thing. It?s the only thing. Winning in boxing means hitting an opponent more often than an opponent can hit back. It may lack the finality of a knockout. But it is the essence of boxing, if not its beating heart.
Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBA Super World super welterweight champion Erislandy Lara ( 23-2-2, 13 KOs), the wily southpaw from Houston, Texas, by way of Guantanamo, Cuba, decisioned Vanes Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 KOs), from Glendale, California, by way of Abovyan, Armenia, over 12 competitive rounds.
The final scores were 115-112 and 116-111 twice, all in favor of ?The American Dream.?
The two other fights on the SHOWTIME telecast featured the Charlo twins, Jermall and Jermell, who made history of their own as the first twins to hold belts in the same division simultaneously.
Lara and the Charlos are among of the sweetest sweet scientists of their generation. They don?t mix it up. They are boxers first, punchers second. They are Mayweather 2.0. and rely on speed and athleticism to vanquish their foes.
People complain about Lara, about the Charlos, about Floyd Mayweather. No one disputes their brilliance, but their fights can be dull. There are exceptions and Jemell Jermell Charlo?s come-from-behind knockout of John ?Da Rock? Jackson in the first fight of the night was among them.
Compared to the Charlos, Lara is an old master. A product of the Cuban boxing system, he has transcendent fundamentals, a textbook jab, and high ring I.Q. Lara makes good fighters look bad and bad fighters look worse. There were no knockdowns or knockouts Saturday night against Martirosyan. He and Lara were evenly matched if diametrically opposed.
Fighting out of the blue corner in leopard trunks, Lara exerted the minimum amount of effort for the maximum amount of effect. To call Lara clever doesn?t do him justice. He has mastered as many Cubans have mastered the art of hitting and not being hit in return.
?I?m a very intelligent fighter,? said Lara after the fight, ?and at no time did I think I wasn?t going to win. I will fight anybody. I would like to fight Canelo or anybody.?
Canelo won?t fight Lara again. Once was enough.
Martirosyan had his moments. I can?t wait to watch him fight again.
But Lara, like the Charlos, is no ordinary fighter.
He fights with the merciless efficiency of a boxing technocrat.
And he looks unbeatable.
Lara landed 162 punches (38%) to Martirosyan?s 94 (20%).
Martirosyan was deducted a point for a low a low blow in the 11th after several warnings.
?That wasn?t a low blow,? said Martirosyan. ?I saw it on the replay. This is boxing, not baseball. Low blows and head butts happen. I was chasing him all night. I put on the pressure. I thought I did enough to win. He ran all night. He got every benefit of the doubt because he?s champion.
?I?m a fighter. I?ll fight him again right now. I still want to be a world champion and I still plan on being world champion.?
