A win over Greg Vendetti on Saturday night from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles would keep Erislandy Lara in the conversation to face the winner of the Sept. 26 junior middleweight unification fight between WBA "Super"/IBF junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario and WBC titleholder Jermell Charlo.
At times it bordered on boredom, but Lara got the job done, beating Vendetti by unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 116-112) to retain the WBA "Regular" junior middleweight title.
It didn’t take long for Lara to let Vendetti know what he’s going to do as he threw a straight left hand. The shot made it seem that Lara, who was instilled as high as a 50-1 favorite in some betting circles, would put Vendetti away rather quickly.
In the second, Vendetti reminded Lara that he’s in for a fight as Vendetti got Lara into the ropes and landed a short left hook. Vendetti continued to fight on the inside and pound the body and go upstairs with short left hands.
Through three rounds, Lara appeared to be disinterested and felt he could turn it on whenever he felt it was necessary. But in the fourth round, the Cuban woke up and picked up the intensity when he buckled Vendetti with a straight left hand but didn’t follow up. Lara's unwillingness to put a little extra effort into putting Vendetti away was the theme for the remainder of the fight.
Vendetti (22-4-1, 12 KOs) tried as hard as he could to pull off the upset. The 30-year-old tried to force the action by coming forward but didn't just have enough in the arsenal to get it done but Lara (27-3-3, 15 KOs) resorted to the fighter of the past by taking minimal chances and was content to cruise to a relatively uneventful victory. At the very least, he ensured that he will get one more opportunity at a marquee fight.