Erislandy Lara will defend middleweight title against Danny García

May 10, 2023

Erislandy Lara will defend his middleweight title against Danny García on August 5, announced the World Boxing Association (WBA).

The main event on Showtime is expected to take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, sources said, with an agreed-upon weight of 155 pounds.

PBC has been planning a fight between Lara and García for months, but Michael Zerafa got in the way. The 31-year-old Australian was the mandatory challenger to Lara's title, but agreed to step aside after being offered a spot on the card, Zerafa's manager Elvis Grant told ESPN.

"PBC was more than fair in resolving this reasonably with the Zerafa team," Grant said.

Zerafa (30-4, 19 KOs) is ESPN's No. 10 middleweight.

The WBA stipulated that the winner must face Zerafa in December or be stripped of the belt.

The 40-year-old Lara rose to champion after Gennadiy Golovkin relinquished his title. A former 154-pound champion, Lara's impressive resume includes a controversial decision loss to Paul Williams, a split decision loss to Canelo Alvarez and a victory over Austin Trout.

The Cuban's split decision loss to Jarrett Hurd in a 154-pound title unification was ESPN's 2018 Fight of the Year. Lara's draw with Brian Castaño the following year was one of the best fights of 2019.

Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) has competed four times since the Castaño fight, all against domestic-level competition. Three of those four victories came inside the distance.

García (37-3, 21 KOs) is a former unified 140-pound champion and 147-pound champion. He rose to fame with a surprising fourth-round technical knockout victory over Amir Khan in 2012 and followed with an impressive victory over Lucas Matthysse the following year.

His extensive resume includes victories over Erik Morales, Zab Judah and Lamont Peterson, along with close decision losses to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. The 35-year-old Philadelphia fighter made his 154-pound debut in July with a majority decision victory over José Benavidez Jr.

That was García's first fight since a decision loss in December 2020 to Errol Spence Jr.