Erislandy Lara vs. Danny Garcia: The Spit Bucket Time Machine Match, on Canelo-Berlanga Undercard

If I could just finish building this time machine in my garage, I’d take us all back to 2019 when the announcement of an Erislandy Lara-Danny Garcia bout would’ve elicited some sort of real excitement.

On Thursday, the announcement of Lara-Garcia was press released along with the announcement of Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga, with both fights slated for the same September 14 PBC on Prime card in Las Vegas. The former was slightly better received than the latter, which went over like a positive pregnancy test before junior year final exams.

But, still…Lara-Garcia? For Lara’s WBA middleweight title?

Between the two, there’ve only been 23 total rounds registered since December 6 of 2020. Garcia, 36, has only fought once in that span of time, beating Jose Benavidez Jr. via majority decision in July of 2022. Lara fought this past March, crushing an overmatched Michael Zerafa in 3 rounds. But, before that, he hadn’t fought in nearly two years, when he crushed a similarly overmatched Gary O’Sullivan in 8 rounds. The 41-year-old has been a member of the one-fight-a-year (or less) club, pretty much since 2018.

Truthfully, Lara-Garcia isn’t a bad fight. There’s some intrigue there. And the guaranteed rust gunking up the flow of the fight from the pair of “Hey, wait, they’re not retired?” fighters should guarantee an oddly even playing field.

Lara, the Cuba-born “American Dream,” has slowed down over the last several years and can no longer be as negative as he once was. The southpaw’s three-fight KO/TKO streak is testament to the fact that he has to stay in the pocket and bang more (It’s also a testament to the fact that his latest opposition just hasn’t been very good).

Philadelphia’s Garcia is a legit two-division world champ (140, 147), who somehow finds himself competing for the middleweight title with no fights at 160 and only one at 154 (which took place over two years ago). If he’s still anything like he was when we last saw the real him, though, he’s a skilled counter-puncher with a solid ring IQ.

“This is a legacy fight and an opportunity to win a championship in my third weight class,” García said in the press release announcing the contest. “Lara is a great champion who’s been around for a while, but so have I. On Sept. 14, I’m bringing the Danny García show to Las Vegas and making it a historic night.”

Lara would go the extra mile with his fighter quote, trying to make some sense of a Cuban fighting an American of Puerto Rican descent as chief support to Canelo-Berlanga on Mexican Independence Day weekend.

“My fight with Danny García will be a classic battle between two legendary fighters of our era,” Lara is quoted as saying. “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.”

Erislandy Lara-Danny Garcia is what it is. As such, it’s alright. The problem is that, as a co-feature to what stands to be mismatch main event on a big-money pay-per-view card, boxing fans will (rightfully) be looking for more than “alright.”