Bob Santos has been a key figure in Erislandy Lara’s career, guiding the Cuban from his early days to becoming a multi-division titleholder.
Lara is preparing to defend his WBA middleweight title against Philadelphia’s former two-division champion Danny Garcia on September 7, on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga. Santos reflected on what the 41-year-old Lara, an Olympic gold medallist, still has to prove.
“Lara’s another guy that everybody says is too old, but he keeps producing, keeps winning,” Santos said. “I remember when we fought [Brian] Castano, everyone was saying, ‘Oh, Lara’s too old, maybe he’s even older than what they say he is, and Castano is just going to run him over’.
“I thought we won that fight. We got a draw, but it is what it is, and we moved on to bigger and better things.”
At this stage of his career, Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs) is taking it one fight at a time. Santos believes that this mindset, while risky, is what separates great fighters from the rest.
“He still wants to compete,” Santos said. “What makes these guys great and different from most of us is the ability to always think they can do it; to always believe they can get off the deck; to always think they can take on a challenge that most of us would shy away from. That mindset is what makes them great.”
Santos acknowledges that this determination can sometimes be a double-edged sword for fighters, as it was for legends like Muhammad Ali. “A lot of times, in the case of someone like Muhammad Ali, that’s what ends up hurting them – sometimes health-wise or in terms of their legacy – but without that mindset, we don’t get Muhammad Ali who beats George Foreman,” he said. “They have to have that almost delusional belief in themselves to accomplish some of the feats they do.”
For Lara, boxing is more than just a career – it’s a way of life. His next fight marks his second of the year, following March’s knockout victory over Michael Zerafa. Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) will be fighting for the first time since July 2022, when he won a unanimous decision over Jose Benavidez Jr.
“I just talked to him the other day, and I’ll be meeting with him tonight,” Santos said. “He just loves it. He’s done it his whole life, and that’s all he knows.”
Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and author of “Inside The Ropes of Boxing” (available on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing.
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