Erislandy Lara cruises to victory, calls out Floyd Mayweather as he watches from ringside

Erislandy Lara cruises to victory, calls out Floyd Mayweather as he watches from ringside

Erislandy Lara retained his super welterweight title against Ishe Smith, scoring a 12 round unanimous decision at the Illusions Theater in San Antonio, TX, which also included an impressive undercards and a number of exhilarating moments.

Round one saw Smith (26-7, 6 KOs) forward with a high guard and backing up Lara, who was very active with his jab. This would be a theme that would be noticeable for the entire 12 rounds. Smith started throwing thunderous body shots after closing the distance, but only after much difficulty, while Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs) was using a powerful right hand but not moving as much as he was expected to. Close to halfway through the round, both fighters clinched and fell to the ground. After the bell rang, Lara headed to his corner but Smith chased him down and confronted him. He was arguing with him while Lara simply looked down and let referee Steve Smoger take Smith back to his corner.

Smith yelled “stop running” numerous times while Lara kept his composure and used his jab on Smith as he moved in in the second round. Once again, after the bell, Smith confronted Lara and had to be taken back to the corner.

Lara started opening his guard more while Smith started clinching in order to get some punches in during the fourth round. While they were clinching, both started punching each other behind the head and Smoger decided to separate and warn them. Smith mocked Lara in the fifth round shaking his head and smiling and dropping hid hands mocking Lara’s stance. After several shots, Smith’s left cheek started to swell.

Smith started the ninth round with body shots that echoed throughout the arena while Lara landed single shots to the head. Lara was placed against the ropes once again in the ninth round but blocked all of Smiths body punches with his elbows and was able to maneuver out of harm’s way.

The 12th round was nothing more than a representation of the entire fight as Smith was still trying to desperately catch Lara but the Cuban tactician stuck to his game plan. The crowd was cheering “Lara” as the round drew to a close. Lara may not have been able to win his fight with Alvarez using the same kind of tactics he used this night, but it was good enough against Smith.

While being interviewed, Lara called out Floyd Mayweather. Whether that will ever come to fruition is completely different. As for Smith, the former star of the first season of The Contender, stated he will definitely not be hanging up the gloves despite being 36 years old.

The first fight of the night was a ten round junior middleweight bout between Chris Pearson (14-0-1, 10 KOs) from Dayton, Ohio and Steve Martinez (15-2, 12 KOs) from Bayamon, Puerto Rico. It should be noted that this was the first ten round fight for both of these boxers. The importance of this win for Pearson had been talked about before the fight given that he had to reschedule a previous fight due to a rolled ankle and was found to have tested positive for THC after his last fight. Pearson reported that he learned his lesson and that he was here to win.
The bell rang and Martinez, a southpaw, came out to meet Pearson. They both came in with a high guard but Pearson was incredibly active with his jab from the get go. Martinez initially started backing up due to the jabs he was facing but then started backing Pearson himself.

Although Pearson seemed to be bobbing and weaving more as well as faking substantially, he did seem flatfooted. Luckily for him, Martinez was walking straight into his jab.
Round two if the bout saw Pearson using more lateral movement and setting himself up in order to counter with combinations. It was this ring intelligence that led to numerous shots landed on Martinez.

At this point in the fight, Pearson was seen fighting with his mouth open. This usually means that a boxer is getting tired and has to breathe through his mouth to get more air in, however, Pearson had stated that he was relaxed and that he is known to do this. He may have been relaxed but this is a very dangerous way to fight. Any unbelievers out there can ask Victor Ortiz about his broken jaw after his fight with Josesito Lopez.

Even though Pearson started showing better footwork, Martinez landed a powerful left hook to the head. He also started fighting on the inside and began to smother Pearson, much to his frustration.

The third round of the fight saw both fighters coming in with targets for one another’s bodies. Martinez was able to land a four punch combination and then a beautiful lead right, which he used repeatedly throughout the round. At this point, Martinez was showing good momentum and was able to get Pearson off his game plan. Pearson then started dropping his right hand, but whether if it was to bait Martinez or due to exhaustion it was unsure. In addition, Martinez was bleeding from his left eye due to an accidentally head butt.

After the fourth round began, Pearson landed a good right hook to the head but the overall pace of the fight continued throughout the fourth and fifth round. Interestingly enough, neither fighter was able to corner the other.

The sixth round saw Pearson landing a straight left but Martinez seemed undeterred. He just kept coming forward as if nothing could stop him. He did, however, start showing signs of exhaustion. He was lowering his arms, opening his mouth for more air and slowed his punches down substantially. It seemed as if though he had used up most of his power in the first rounds, which he had clearly won. It was possible that he was just not used to this pace or length of fighting.

Round seven was interesting because both boxers ended up falling after holding each other. After standing up, Pearson offered to touch gloves with Martinez but instead “pulled a Mayweather” and landed a jab. The fight resumed while the crowd booed Pearson for his unsportsmanlike conduct. Shortly after, Martinez was seen bending at the knees more and coming in lower. A powerful right hand by Martinez took Pearson off balance while he was already against the ropes. Pearson decided to make up for that by ending the round with a flurry and placing Martinez up against the ropes himself.

The ninth round began with a good one-two combination by Martinez that pushed Pearson back. Pearson himself returned with a combination that ended with a powerful right to the body. Shortly after, he also landed a right hand to the head while fighting close and Martinez slipped, but referee Freddy Ledesma did not rule it a knock down.

After the bell rang, Martinez’ trainer, Marcos Suarez, told him in his corner to work the last round as if it was the first round.

The final round began and Pearson started off with a one-two combination that pushed Martinez back, but he kept moving forward after that. Before the end of the round, Pearson was able to land a resonating right hand on the head.
The official decision was announced and Pearson was declared the winner by all three judges. For Martinez, there is no question he will have to go back to the drawing board after winning only the early rounds. For Pearson, however, the question remains if he can keep his focus and move up in the rankings.

The second bout of the night was a scheduled ten round match between Badou Jack (18-1-1, 11KOs) from Stockholm, Sweden and Francisco Sierra (26-8-1, 23 KOs) from Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. Sierra took this fight on one week’s notice and this was reflected in the fact that he did not make weight by a few pounds. In addition, he rehydrated 27.5 pounds overnight, something rarely seen.

The bell rang and both boxers moved in to meet each other. Sierra came in with a very open guard while Jack had a high and closed guard. Initially, both performed a standard first round test and measured themselves. Sierra then landed a one-two combination that ended with a powerful right. Shortly after that, there was an accidental clash of heads that lead to a gruesome cut over Sierra’s right eye. Sierra would be bleeding profusely from this cut for the remainder of the fight.

The second round began and Sierra took the initiative again by landing a one-two-three combination. Jack started using more lateral movement and footwork in this round. He also landed a good right hook to the head after a jab.

Round three also saw Sierra using the one-two-three combo but without much effect. Jack kept coming forward more effectively and faking. Furthermore, Sierra’s jab was getting lazy. He was throwing too low for it to have any sort of effect. Before the round ended, Jack was able to land a few uppercuts to the body while fighting in close quarters.

It was obvious that Sierra was looking tired by the way he was dropping his guard after the fourth round began. Even then, he was still moving forward with his one-two combinations. At one point, however, he took a left hook to the body from Jack that hurt Sierra substantially. He was able to stay upright, but the grimace on his face and the way he backed up made Jack move in for the kill. Sierra was moving back and in trouble, but there were only 20 seconds left in the round. The question for many at that moment was could he hang on long enough. The answer: yes. Not only did he hang on, but he actually started throwing back a few punches before the bell rang. He may have been losing the fight, but Sierra was showing signs of a true Mexican warrior.

The fifth round began and Jack landed a powerful right hand while fighting on the inside. Shortly after, Sierra swung with a power right overhand but missed and almost threw himself off balance. Jack took this opportunity to land a hook to the body as he moved in.

Sierra came into the sixth round with a raised guard. He dropped his mouthpiece after taking a punch but later came forward with a powerful one-two combo. Even with that show of willpower, Sierra was taking a lot of punishment from Jack. Referee Rafael Ramos decided to stop the fight 1:58 of the second round.

Sierra was arguing with Ramos and clearly disagreed with the decision but at that point it was obvious he was not going to win the fight and was just going to get hurt. For someone who took a fight with one week’s notice and had to lose at least 30 pounds, Ramos had nothing to be ashamed of.

– Nader Gamez
Contributor for BehindTheGloves.com