Erislandy Lara vs Johan Gonzalez Preview Dec. 6th, 2025
Zhanibek Alimkhanuly of Kazakhstan was supposed to put his IBF and WBO Middleweight Titles on the line against WBA ‘Regular’Champion Erislandy Lara of Cuba this Saturday, December 6th but Alimkhanuly failed a drug test and has been replaced by Johan Gonzalez of Venezuela. The 12-round battle takes place in San Antonio, Texas and can be seen live on Amazon Prime pay-per-view and PPV.com. Lara’s last outing saw him stop former world champion Danny Garcia after nine rounds. He captured the vacant WBA Crown in 2021 when he stopped Thomas LaManna in just 80 seconds. Gonzalez last saw action in March when he beat former world champion Jarrett Hurd via a 10-round split decision.
Lara vs Gonzalez Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Johan Gonzalez +400
- Erislandy Lara -500
My Pick
The 42-year-old Lara is a southpaw who now fights out of Houston, Texas. He climbs into the ring with a mark of 31-3-3 with 19 Ko’s under his belt. He’s elusive in the ring with a lot of boxing skills but doesn’t have too much in the way of one-punch power even though 61.3 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. That may be a little hard to digest though since he’s stopped his last four opponents but has gone the distance in four of his last nine outings. Lara stands just 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 75-inch wingspan and is also a former IBO and WBA Junior Middleweight champion.
He won the IBO Junior Middleweight Belt by beating Delvin Rodriguez via unanimous decision in June, 2015 and captured the interim WBA title in June, 2013 by stopping Alfredo Angulo in the 10th round after being dropped in the fourth and ninth rounds. He defended his belts against the likes of Yuri Foreman, Vanes Martirosyan, Delvin Rodriguez, Ishe Smith and Jan Zaveck.
Meanwhile, Lara’s three defeats have all been controversial and came at the hands of former world champ Jarrett Hurd by split decision in April, 2018, to Paul Williams by majority decision in 2011 and a split decision to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in 2014. He also fought to a nine-round technical decision draw with Vanes Martirosyan in 2012, a 10-round majority draw with Carlos Molina a year earlier and a 12-round draw with Brian Castano in 2019.
Lara is an excellent technical boxer and his power may be a bit underrated. He’s boxed 245 rounds since turning pro in 2008. Before that he 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 by letting his hands go and throwing more power shots. He’s sometimes dominant, too defensive and hard to hit and that can lead to boring fights.
Gonzalez is 34 years old and makes the ring walk with a mark of 36-4 with 34 Ko’s and has boxed 123 rounds since turning pro in 2017. As an amateur he made the quarterfinals of the 2016 Pan American championships where he was beaten by former world champion Jose Pedraza. He also competed in the world series of boxing. Gonzalez measures 5-feet-10 inches tall with a 72.5-inch reach. This gives him a one-inch edge in height on Lara but he gives up 2.5-inches in reach.
Power is obviously the name of the game for Gonzalez as 32 of his 34 wins have come by stoppage for a current winning knockout ratio of 94.4 per cent. However his last stoppage came in 2023 and he hasn’t halted any of his last five opponents. His first defeat came at the hands of Charlie Navarro in 2019 by an 11-round split decision. He dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Magomed Kurbanov in 2022 and was then stopped by Jesus Ramos Jr. in the ninth round in May 2024, and by Yeonis Tellez in the seventh round five months later.
Gonzalez captured the vacant Venezuelan Welterweight Title in 2018 and added the vacant IBA Intercontinental Super Welterweight Belt the same year when he stopped Aristides Quintero in the second round. In 2022 he halted Elvin Ganbarov in the fifth round to win the NABA Super Welterweight Crown. Gonzalez also beat Guido Schramm in 2023. He’s usually had a problem when stepping up in class though and 19 of his 40 opponents entered the ring with a winning record.
Prediction…
Lara is a superb boxer and oddly he’s shown more power as he ages. He also has much more experience against stiffer pro opposition than Gonzalez and that should be expected as he’s eight years older than his foe. Gonzalez is naturally more aggressive with a lot more power but his chin isn’t as sturdy. He’s a late replacement so could catch Lara by surprise but I’m expecting Lara to leave the ring with his belt and while a stoppage may be hard to achieve it’s still a possibility.
Lara has the better skills and more experience.
Play Lara -500 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Erislandy Lara betting • Zhanibek Alimkhanuly betting