ERISLANDY Lara will fight Danny Garcia on August 5.
The 40-year-old Cuban and the 35-year-old American will meet in a 12-round middleweight title contest at a venue still to be confirmed.
Lara 29-3 (3) ranked sixth will face the unranked Garcia 37-3 (21) who is fighting at 160lbs for the first time. Having fought at 140lbs and 147lbs the latter was expected to pursue a run at 154lbs after debuting there with a win in his last fight ten months ago against Jose Benavidez Jr.
In his first professional bout Lara was two pounds under the middleweight limit before spending the next 12 years chasing success at 154.
Both men have taken on some of the biggest names in the sport over the years with Lara giving Canelo Alvarez one of the toughest nights of his life in July 2014. The Mexican won a split decision in Las Vegas, but some believed the Cuban southpaw deserved the win.
Garcia famously stopped Amir Khan in their 2012 encounter which propelled the career of the Philadelphian to new heights. Wins against the likes of Zab Judah, Lucas Matthysse, Lamont Peterson Paulie Malignaggi and Robert Guerrero added to his perfect record before Keith Thurman gave him his first loss in 2017.
Neither man have been particularly active since that time. Each man has fought just six times in the last five years.
Australian middleweight Michael Zerafa is expected to feature on the undercard.
