Lara facing lack of opponents

Southpaw junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara still is without an opponent for a Nov. 5 show on HBO, which is set to be headlined by Alfredo Angulo and promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

Lara's manager claims that the fighter has been offered bouts opposite Angulo (20-1, 17 KOs), hard-hitting James Kirkland (29-1, 26 KOs) and WBA "regular" titleholder Austin Trout (23-0, 13 KOs), but that none have accepted.

The 28-year-old Lara was last seen in a July bout which most ringsiders thought he had won, but instead ended in a controversial majority decision loss to three-time titlist Paul Williams (40-2, 27 KOs).

"Angulo, Kirkland, and Trout have all turned down Lara for Nov.5," said manager Luis DeCubas Jr. "It's getting impossible to get someone in the ring after dominating Paul Williams. Can someone please step up to the plate?"

Angulo had been expected to face Vanes Martirosyan (30-0, 19 KOs), but Martirosyan turned down an offer to do so, Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez told RingTV.com on Thursday.

Since it is was an eliminator for the right to be the WBC's No. 1 contender, the winner of Angulo-Martirosyan would have been in line to meet 21-year-old titleholder Saul Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KOs), who must first get beyond a defense against Alfonso Gomez (23-4-1, 12 KOs) Sept. 17 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Lara also had been considered for a clash of southpaws opposite WBO titleholder Sergei Dzinziruk (37-1, 23 KOs), said Decubas Jr.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lem.satterfield@gmail.com