Background and career
Erislandy Lara Santoya (born 11 April 1983) is a Cuban-American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title since 2023 (Regular version from 2021 to 2023). Previously he held the WBA super welterweight title (Regular and Super versions) between 2014 and 2021. In a career lasting over 16 years, Lara has long been regarded as one of the world's most technically skilled boxers. He was captain of the Cuban national amateur team, winning a welterweight gold medal at the 2005 World Championships as well as three consecutive Cuban national championships from 2005 to 2007.
In 2003 and 2004, Lara lost four times against two-time world champion Lorenzo Aragón. In 2005 after Aragon stepped down, Lara bested his countryman Yudel Jhonson Cedeno repeatedly and was sent to the world championships. There he avenged an earlier loss to Russian Andrey Balanov, beat American Boyd Melson, upset top favorite and Olympic champion Bakhtiyar Artayev (31–22), and won Gold against Magomed Nurutdinov (BLR). Lara has lost twice to another Kazakh, Bakhyt Sarsekbayev. In their only meeting, Lara beat American world champion Demetrius Andrade 9–4.
Defeated Manon Boonjumnong (Thailand) 21–9 Defeated Stefan Dragomir (Romania) RSC–3 Defeated Bakhyt Sarsekbayev (Kazakhstan) 39–33 Lost to Andrey Balanov (Russia) 21–36
Lara was considered a favorite to win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. However, in 2007, Lara and Guillermo Rigondeaux defected from Cuba during the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some weeks later, he was caught by Brazilian authorities and returned to Cuba where he was banned from practicing boxing indefinitely. In 2008, Lara attempted a second defection, this time on a speed boat to Mexico. Lara was successful and made his way to Hamburg, Germany, where he joined former Olympic champions Odlanier Solis, Yan Bartelemí, and Yuriorkis Gamboa in the Arena Box-Promotion stable.
On 1 January 2009, Lara made his ESPN debut and scored a first-round Technical knockout (TKO) against Rodrigo Aguiar. Lara's following fight came on 20 February 2009, against Keith Gross. Lara dropped Gross with a left hand, but Gross beat the count on wobbly legs. Lara continued unleashing combinations to the head and body. A left uppercut finished the fight within round one. On 2 May 2009, on the Pacquiao vs. Hatton undercard, Lara faced Chris Gray. Lara won the fight via unanimous decision. On 22 May 2009, Lara faced aging Edwin Vazquez. Lara finished the fight with good combinations, prompting the referee to stop the fight in round four. On that same night, fellow Cuban boxer Guillermo Rigondeaux made his pro debut, which he also won via referee stoppage in the third round. After beating Edwin Vazquez, Lara went on to win nine straight fights punctuated by four consecutive first-round knockout victories.
On 25 March 2011, at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Lara fought Carlos Molina to a ten-round majority draw. Lara started by frequently targeting Molina's body with the left uppercut when Molina would attempt to close the distance. Early on, Molina seemed to predict and nullify much of Lara's attempted one-two combinations. Although Lara had trouble connecting with his signature straight left hand initially, he found the distance by the middle rounds and began to mix in short hooks to the head while blocking most of Molina's constant body work. Molina, on the other hand, was rarely able to find Lara's head throughout the entire fight. Relying on looping punches, Molina stayed close and took advantage of the clinches to land to the body. Visibly fatigued, Molina developed a cut under his left eye near the beginning of the ninth round as Lara landed a hard, clean, straight left hand and pushed the pace. Molina's higher output and pressure were favored by one judge while Lara's cleaner, sharper output and defense went largely unnoticed by ringside commentators. The final scorecards read: 95–95, 95–95, and 97–93 in favor of Molina. Lara fought former WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams on 9 July 2011, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he lost a majority decision. Judges Don Givens (116–114) and Hilton Whitaker II (115–114) both favored Williams, while Al Bennett scored it even at 114–114. Most boxing analysts and fans believed that Lara clearly won the fight and had been unfairly judged. Lara was able to land hard, clean left hands throughout the fight while maintaining superb defense. Williams appeared hurt in the later rounds but did, however, keep up a high output of punches despite their relative ineffectiveness. CompuBox recorded Lara landing 49% of his power punches compared to 21% by Williams. Lara also landed 7 more jabs and 17 more power punches than Williams, despite the near two-fold activity by Williams. Consequently, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board suspended all three judges, and Lara received his first loss as a professional fighter in a highly controversial fashion.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
