Erislandy Lara vs Terrell Gausha Preview Oct. 14th
Southpaw Erislandy Lara of Cuba will be defending his IBO World Super Welterweight and WBA Super World Super Welterweight Titles against undefeated Terrell Gausha of Cleveland, Ohio at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York this Saturday, October 14th. The 12-round bout can be seen live on Showtime in the U.S. While fans in the UK can catch the action on Sky Sports. Lara last fought in January when he stopped Yuri Foreman in the fourth round while Gausha’s last outing was in February when he won a 10-round unanimous decision against Luis Hernandez.
Lara vs Gausha Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Terrell Gausha +660
- Erislandy Lara -1380
My Pick
The 34-year-old Lara, who now fights out of Houston, Texas, enters the contest at 24-2-2 with 14 Kos under his belt. He’s an elusive southpaw with a lot of boxing skills, but not too much in the way of one-punch power as his knockout ratio currently stands at 50 per cent. The champion is just 5-feet-9-inches tall and has a 74-inch wingspan. Lara won the vacant IBO title by beating Delvin Rodriguez by unanimous decision in June of 2015. He won the interim WBA version in June of 2013 by stopping Alfredo Angulo.
As well as defending his titles against Foreman, Vanes Martirosyan, and Rodriguez, Lara also defended them against Ishe Smith by decision in December of 2012 and Jan Zaveck by third-round knockout in November of 2015. Lara’s two career defeats as a pro have been at the hands of Paul Williams by controversial majority decision in 2011 and a controversial split decision loss to Saul Alvarez in July of 2014. He also fought to a nine-round technical decision draw with Maritosyan in 2012 and a 10-round majority draw with Carlos Molina a year earlier.
Lara is an excellent technical boxer and his power may be a bit underrated. He’s often not the most exciting boxer around though and has boxed 175 rounds since turning pro in 2008. He also enjoyed an excellent amateur career in which he won numerous titles, including three straight national crowns in Cuba as a welterweight. He has a bit of an awkward style, but has become more fan friendly lately as he has begun to let his hands go and has starting throwing more power shots. He sometimes appears to be too good to be exciting as he can be dominant and hard to hit and that can lead to boring fights.
The 30-year-old Gausha also had a fine amateur career and represented the U.S. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He’ll climb through the ring ropes with a perfect record of 20-0 with 9 Kos. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall and has a reach of 71 inches, giving him an inch advantage in height, but a four-inch disadvantage in reach. Gausha turned pro back in 2012 after the Olympics and has boxed 111 rounds since then. However, he’s been moved along at a slow to steady rate and hasn’t really faced anybody of note as of yet other than perhaps Charles Whittaker, Luis Grajeda and Eliezer Gonzalez.
Gausha is also a former Golden Gloves and National Champion but was eliminated at the Olympics after two bouts. He doesn’t really have much one-punch power in his fists either and has a current knockout ratio of 45 per cent. Gausha has a pretty good chin and boxing skills, but is taking a big step up in class here against Lara. He isn’t entering the fight with any physical advantages and will have to box the bout of his life here to pull off an upset and take Lara’s belts.
Prediction…
Lara has plenty of experience against top-level opponents and shouldn’t really have a problem retaining his titles against a solid, but somewhat limited pro in Gausha.
Look for Gausha to lose his first pro fight here.
Play: Lara -1380 @ 5dimes.eu
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Erislandy Lara betting • Terrell Gausha betting