Lara v Tszyu set for 12 December: "I'll drag him into a fight he doesn't want"
Erislandy Lara defends the WBA middleweight title on the Gold Coast on DAZN, with Jermell Charlo back after three years out against Brock Jarvis.
Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight title against Tim Tszyu on 12 December, live on DAZN, Premier Boxing Champions announced on 3 November. The fight is on the Gold Coast in Australia, and the listed start time is 12.30am on Sunday 13 December in the UK.
The fight was confirmed in October without a date or venue. Tszyu set out his plan in a press release at the time.
"Lara is a great champion. He's slick, clever and stylistically very hard," Tszyu said. "He'll want to turn this into a chess match but I've never taken the easy road. I want the man with the belt, and I'll drag him into a fight he doesn't want."
George Rose, chief executive of Tszyu's promoter No Limit, said the champion is a hard fight for anyone. "Lara is a nightmare for anyone. He's a genius in there and spent a decade making the best in the world look silly," he said. "Plenty of big names have found reasons not to fight him. Tim wanted and called for him by name. He wants legacy and the time is now."
Lara, 43, is 32-3-3 with 19 knockouts and has not fought since beating Johan Gonzalez on points last December. Tszyu, 28-3 with 18 knockouts, has won three in a row, including a points win over Errol Spence Jr in Sydney in July, and would become a two-weight world champion with a win.
Tszyu is the WBO's No 3, and his contract to face Lara is one reason Michael Zerafa gets a shot at the vacant WBO title that Denzel Bentley was stripped of. Lara stopped Zerafa in two rounds in March 2024.
Jermell Charlo, the former undisputed super welterweight champion, fights Australia's Brock Jarvis over 10 rounds at middleweight in the co-main event. Charlo has not boxed since losing to Canelo Alvarez on 30 September 2023. Jarvis was stopped in the third round by Keith Thurman in Sydney in March 2025.
WBA super featherweight champion Elnur Samedov defends his title against Liam Wilson on the same card.
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