The September 14th co-feature prior to Canelo Alvarez's world super middleweight championship defense vs. Edgar Berlanga will feature Cuba's Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara facing Danny “Swift” García (pictured), a former two-division champion. Garcia will fight as a middleweight for the first time in his career in what will be a high-stakes matchup for Lara’s WBA championship. This fights matches two fighters with more world championship experience than almost anyone else in this era of boxing, with a combined 24 appearances in world title fights.
Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs) had a long reign as WBA 154-pound champ and is now in the midst of a second title run, this time at 160-pounds.
Lara captured his current title initially as a secondary title, scoring a first-round knockout of Thomas LaManna in May 2021. He KO’d Gary O’Sullivan in May 2022 and most recently sparked out Michael Zerafa in round two in March. Along the way, Lara was upgraded to WBA champ when Gennady Golovkin retired. Prior to his middleweight exploits, Lara was the longest reigning 154-pound champion before he lost a split-decision to Jarrett Hurd in a 2018 title unification match that earned “Fight of the Year” honors from the BWAA. Lara returned from that fight and battled former 154-pound world titleholder Brian Castaño to an exciting draw in another narrow fight that could have gone Lara’s way. He faced a slew of the top 154-pounders in the sport, including Canelo Álvarez, ahead of his middleweight debut.
“My fight with Danny García will be a classic battle between two legendary fighters of our era,” said Lara. “We’ve both faced the best, have impressive resumes and have competed at the top level for a long time. I’m excited for this fight. I encourage all my Mexican fans to tune in on Mexican Independence Day, bring your flags and support this great event. I will represent not only Cuba, but also Mexico on this day against Puerto Rico. To everyone watching at T-Mobile Arena and on the pay-per-view on Prime Video, you will witness greatness in the ring throughout the action-packed night of boxing. I look forward to putting on a show and being the first to knock out Danny García. This will be an epic showdown!”
A champion at 140 and 147 pounds, García (37-3, 21 KOs) owns one of the sport’s more impressive resumes as he now seeks to add a middleweight world title to his list of accomplishments. In his last fight, contested at 154 pounds, he kept José Benavídez Jr. at bay on his way to a twelve-round decision victory. The Philadelphia native has proudly represented his Puerto Rican heritage throughout a career that includes wins over a string of champions including Erik Morales, Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Lucas Matthysse, Nate Campbell and Kendall Holt. As a welterweight, he added triumphs over Lamont Peterson, Paulie Malignaggi, and Robert Guerrero, defeating Guerrero for a vacant title in 2016. García’s campaign at welterweight included narrow defeats to some of the sport’s most talented and rugged fighters in Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, and then unbeaten unified champion Errol Spence Jr.
“This is a legacy fight and an opportunity to win a championship in my third weight class,” said García. “Lara is a great champion who’s been around for a while, but so have I. On Sept. 14th, I’m bringing the Danny García show to Las Vegas and making it a historic night.”
