Erislandy Lara drops late replacement opponent twice in title defense

Erislandy Lara has always taken pride in being a pragmatic, efficient ring technician — even if it results in a low-action affair.

Although there were large stretches of low punch counts, Lara dropped late replacement Johan Gonzalez twice en route to defending his WBA middleweight world title by unanimous decision Saturday night. Judges at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas scored it 118-108, 119-107 and 120-106 all in favor of the champ.

Lara was supposed to fight Janibek Alimkhanuly in a middleweight unification bout — only for Alimkhanuly to fail a drug test — allowing Gonzalez to swoop in late.

Despite entering the bout with 34 of his 36 wins coming by knockout, it was clear Gonzalez never faced a caliber of opponent quite like Lara.

The decorated Cuban fighter used a pull-counter left to drop Gonzalez with a flash knockdown in the first round.

He then wobbled the challenger’s legs by doubling up on the left during the fifth.

While boos rained down on Lara during the middle of the fight for putting efficiency over mashing the gas pedal with urgency, the veteran did give fans something to cheer about as a series of left hands made Gonzalez taste the canvas late in the 12 ^th and final round.

Although Lara had his knockout streak end at four fights, he retained his middleweight title with ease.