Conor Coyle Reveals He Had Signed To Fight Erislandy Lara For WBA World Title

Undefeated middleweight contender Conor Coyle has revealed he had signed to fight Erislandy Lara for the WBA World Title.

‘The Kid’ lost out on his world title shot after returning an adverse finding and reluctantly accepting a reduced nine-month ban.

Conor Coyle Signed To Fight Erislandy Lara

Conor Coyle has revealed that he had signed to fight Erislandy Lara for his WBA World Middleweight Title last April before returning an adverse finding in a post-fight drugs test.

The undefeated Irish middleweight contender was 21-0 at the time, fighting to a majority draw against Vito Mielnicki Jr in February 2025. However, the fight was then overturned to a no-contest after Coyle tested positive for a banned substance.

The New York State Athletic Commission imposed a lengthy suspension on ‘The Kid’, with Coyle’s legal team reaching an agreement that saw the suspension reduced to nine-months.

Despite protesting his innocence, Coyle reluctantly accepted the compromise. Coyle has since revealed that he had just signed a contract to fight Lara in April, but lost out on the opportunity to become world champion after accepting his ban.

https://twitter.com/BrunchBoxing/status/1963189139039215936

Now that he is back to winning ways and has returned from his ban, Coyle has revealed the full details of his contracted world title fight with Lara, and how it unfortunately slid by the wayside after his adverse finding:

“We actually had a world title fight lined up. I signed the contract to fight Lara in April for the WBA world title just a week before all this s**t came out,” Coyle told the Derry Journal.

“Listen, I’m happy it’s over now, and the New York State Athletic Commission are happy, and I’m able to fight again. I’ll set it all behind me now and move forward.”

Coyle is one of the top-rated middleweights on the Emerald Isle, despite no world ranking in any of the governing bodies following his ban. He is a few steps behind Aaron McKenna for example, who recently climbed two places to #4 in the latest IBF world middleweight rankings.

The Conor Coyle vs Vito Mielnicki Jnr majority draw, which took place on the Keyshawn Davis vs Denys Berinchyk card, last February, has been overturned to a ‘no contest,’ after Coyle’s post fight drug test revealed an adverse finding. #fightclub247 #boxing #fighter #champion pic.twitter.com/hBV8X3LiVh

— Fight Club 24/7 (@fightclub247) August 19, 2025

Coyle Sets Sights On World Title Shot Later In 2026

The now 22-0 undefeated Irish middleweight contender defeated journeyman Pachino Hill via knockout on January 24, marking his first fight in almost a year following his ban.

After getting through his ring-rust freeing fight in Florida, the 35-year-old now has his sights firmly set on getting himself back in the mix on the world scene.

‘The Kid’ isn’t ranked inside the top 15 of any of the four sanctioning bodies at 160-pounds due to his nine-month ban and 11-month absence, but is desperate to return to the rankings and work his way into a position to challenge for world honours.

Although fighting for a world title in 2026 seems unlikely, it isn’t totally out of the question. Erislandy Lara still holds the WBA World Middleweight Title belt, and may well grant Coyle his opportunity as a voluntary defence given they had signed to fight each other before.

Win number 22 for Coyle

Connor Coyle stops Pachino Hill in the final round of the fight to move to 22-0 with 10KO's pic.twitter.com/nr6GYG4CZp

— Boxing Tickets NI (@BoxingTicketsNI) January 25, 2026

Now that his ban is behind him, Coyle insists he is ready to get back on the world title trail. The Irishman feels that his transparency surrounding his adverse finding will stand him in good stead too, pointing out that it wasn’t a performance enhancing drug suspension, rather an administrative suspension:

“It wasn’t a PED suspension so I didn’t fail the test. It was an administrative suspension,” Coyle stressed.

“I didn’t want my name to be attached to being a cheat or a steroid user or whatever,” Coyle concluded.

Whether or not ‘The Kid’ will get straight back on the world trail remains to be seen. However, he remains unbeaten and is holding out hope of landing a big fight to get him in a position to challenge for world honours at the back end of 2026 or even next year.