By Patrick Connor

For weeks boxing's water cooler topic has been the negotiations between middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Kazakhstani thrasher Gennady Golovkin. Rightly so, as Canelo-Golovkin is one of the biggest fights the sport could make currently, and it would even satisfy the boxing's insatiable hardcore contingent. But while the two best middleweights argue contract minutiae, WBA junior middleweight beltholder Erislandy Lara forges ahead while hoping to land another big fight. 

In last weekend's Showtime main event, Lara boxed to a decision win over Vanes Martirosyan. It was a rematch of their 2012 bout that ended quite unceremoniously in a ninth round technical draw when a headbutt opened a cut over Martirosyan's eye. This time the Cuban southpaw was able to land the more eye-catching punches throughout the fight, concluding their unfinished business.

"We closed the chapter on the Martirosyan subject," Lara's manager Luis DeCubas, Jr. told FloBoxing. "Vanes is one of the top fighters in the division, and Lara dominated down the stretch and really put on a great display of boxing. I'm pleased with his performance, and with him being able to beat guys at this level."

Finding opponents a level or two above Martirosyan is a challenge, however, as some of the biggest names Lara has face aren't around anymore and the 154 pound division has thinned down considerably in recent years. The name junior middleweights that remain are nearly off limits for one reasons or another: the Charlo twins hold a belt apiece, but both are close with Lara and Jermall is his stablemate, and Demetrius Andrade's talent is wasted as he remains relatively inactive. That means a fight against name middleweights is on the table by default.

"We're looking to get the biggest fights, whether it's Golovkin or the rematch with Canelo," DeCubas said. "That chapter's not closed. There's also Cotto, and those big names are the fights we want, but if we can't get them, then we have to keep going."

Despite his apparent difficulty in procuring a big fight, few active fighters have been in with as many ranked opponents in a given division as Lara has in the last few years. So why does it seem as if Lara is always stranded on the periphery of the big name discussions? 

"If he had an ounce of the marketability of [Floyd] Mayweather, his performances against boxing's elite would be hailed as masterpieces," said author Brin-Jonathan Butler. "Few in the sport can make you look as bad fighting him as Erislandy Lara, if anyone."

And Lara's style could be the only thing holding him back from becoming a bigger star. He has a million-dollar smile and calls himself "The American Dream." A literal "rags to riches" story, he grew up in Guantanamo and entered Cuba's clinical amateur boxing machine as a child before escaping the team, being caught and imprisoned and finally escaping again by speedboat to Mexico. 

Back in 1962, a different Cuban around the same size as Lara was adopted by Mexicans as one of their own when he defected after boxing was outlawed. But Jose Napoles was a boxer-puncher who was willing to fight for the crowd, and Lara simply isn't. The outstanding amateur swings back when forced to, and he had to climb off the deck to defeat Alfredo Angulo in 2013, but if he can help it, he keeps his fights slow-paced and simple. 

"His style is very difficult for a lot of fighters," said DeCubas. "He has a great pedigree and is now going on 30 pro fights, so it's a lot of experience. It's very difficult to get fights. At one point in his career we were just looking for big fights, and we wouldn't take fights if they weren't big. But obviously sitting out is not what's best for his body." 

Averaging just over two fights per year, Lara is about as active as most upper echelon boxers these days. The goal is another shot at Canelo or a fresh challenge to Golovkin, but this time he at least has a backup plan or two in case those fights don't materialize. 

As an in between division, junior middleweight has often been eclipsed by its neighbors, welterweight and middleweight. But in the late 1980s and early 90s an Italian fighter named Gianfranco Rosi managed to make 11 defenses of the IBF belt, setting the division record. "Lara said if he can't get those big fights he's gonna defend the junior middleweight title 12 times," DeCubas stated. 

The only solution is to stay busy and keep his name in the headlines, or else his 33-year-old body may start to feel its years. Lara may hold a belt, but waiting around is not an option. Neither is unification, apparently, and thus begins the march toward finding an opponent that can help Lara realize his potential and talent. 

"Guys like Canelo and Golovkin are looking to protect themselves until they fight each other," DeCubas said "So Lara knows what he has to do."