Erislandy Lara vs Jan Zaveck Preview November 25th
Erislandy Lara of Cuba will be defending his WBA and IBO Junior Middleweight Championship this Wednesday, November 25th against Jan Zaveck of Slovenia at the Hialeah Park Racing and Casino in Hialeah, Florida. This is another of the Premier Boxing Champions series (PBC) and the 12-round bout can be seen live on ESPN in the U.S. The 32-year-old Lara fights out of Houston, Texas now and enters the ring with a record of 21-2-2 with 12 Kos. The 39-year-old Zaveck is a former world titleholder who fights out of Germany and has a mark of 35-3 with 19 Kos to his name.
Lara vs Zaveck Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Jan Zaveck +1750
- Erislandy Lara -5250
My Pick
Lara is an elusive southpaw with a lot of boxing skills, but not too much in the way of power. His knockout ratio currently stands at 48 per cent while Zaveck’s is slightly better at 49 per cent. The champion has the edge in height though as he’s 5-feet-9-inches tall while Zaveck is just over 5-foot-7. Lara also has a decided reach advantage as his wingspan is 74 inches and Zaveck has a 67-inch reach. Lara’s last outing was also shown by PBC when he beat Delvin Rodriguez by a unanimous decision back in June. He also won the IBO crown in that fight after winning the WBA version by decisioning Ishe Smith last December.
Lara’s two career defeats as a pro have been at the hands of Paul Williams by majority decision in 2011 and a controversial split decision loss to Saul Alvarez in July if 2014. He’s also fought draws with Vanes Maritosyan in 2012 and Carlos Molina a year earlier. Most fans would rather see Lara defend his titles against a younger and more well-known boxer than Zaveck. The challenger has fought the likes of Andre Berton and Keith Thurman, but was stopped in the fifth round by Berto in September of 2011 and dropped a unanimous decision to Thurman in March of 2013. His other loss came at the hands of Rafal Jackiewicz by split decision in 2008.
Zaveck isn’t a bad boxer by any means, but he’s past his prime and was never really an elite fighter to begin with. He know he’s in for a tough test Wednesday night, but will do his best to give Lara some problems. He said he respects Lara a lot, but wants to prove that he deserves to be in the ring with the champion. This could be one of Lara’s last fights as a junior middleweight as he may decide to venture into the 160 lb. division to take on the likes of Gennady Golovkin or a rematch with Alvarez, who just beat Miguel Cotto on the weekend.
Lara is an excellent technical boxer and his power may be a bit underrated. He’s not the most exciting boxer around especially when he’s taking on a lesser-skilled opponent such as Zaveck. The challenger has more pro experience though with 271 rounds under his belt compared to the 156 rounds Lara has boxed. Most of Zaveck’s fights have been in the welterweight division though, where he was once a world champ and defended his belt three times. His last three wins came against virtual unknowns in Sebastien Allais, Ferenc Hafner and Sasha Yengoyan and he’s stepping up in class against Lara.
Prediction……
Zaveck will give it his best shot, but will find it hard to hit Lara and also get out of the way of his effective counterpunching. Lara has the edge in just about every department here and his superior skills should see him take a comfortable decision or score a late stoppage.
Lara has too much skill to lose this bout.
Play: Lara -5250 @ 5dimes.eu
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Erislandy Lara betting • Jan Zaveck betting