Erislandy Lara didn't even want to mention Janibek Alimkhanuly's name Wednesday night.

The unbeaten IBF/WBO middleweight champion's failed performance-enhancing drug test infuriated Lara because it cost him an opportunity to add two more 160-pound crowns to his WBA belt on Saturday night. Lara will instead face a late replacement, Johan Gonzalez, on the Lamont Roach-Isaac Cruz undercard at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

An irate Lara lambasted Alimkhanuly for ruining their title unification fight after an open workout to promote the event at a San Antonio hotel.

"At the end of the day, he deserves to be punished," Lara told a group of videographers. "He should be punished. You know, he took drugs, he tested dirty. He's a young fighter. He’s 32 years old, going up [against] a 42-year-old man. I mean, you know, he should be punished. That's what he deserves. You know, he's got two titles. He's gotta be punished – absolutely."

Kazakhstan's Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs) tested positive for Meldonium, a substance banned by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

Enhancing endurance and improving recovery from training are among the reported benefits of Meldonium, which Alimkhanuly denied knowingly taking after the strong southpaw was removed from his fight with Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs).

"I have always supported clean sport you know this well," Alimkhanuly wrote on X on Tuesday. "I was surprised when I read the news. VADA took the first test and said everything was clean. I have not made any changes to my vitamins. I don't know what happened with the second test, so I requested a retest."

The Cuban-born Lara isn't interested in Alimkhanuly's explanation. He has shifted his focus to Gonzalez (36-4, 34 KOs), a dangerous Venezuelan contender who defeated Jarrett Hurd (25-4-1, 17 KOs) by split decision in his last fight, a 10-rounder March 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

"Look, I'm just focused on the fight, regardless of who the opponent may be because our preparation was really good," Lara told emcee Ray Flores during the open workout. "We trained really well. I'm not even gonna mention his name because he doesn’t deserve it. I'm glad that we were able to make [another fight] and excited to do so."

Lara hasn't fought since he stopped former welterweight and junior welterweight champ Danny Garcia after nine one-sided rounds in September 2024. His disappointment notwithstanding, Lara is thankful that a grueling training camp didn’t go to waste.

"I'm glad that PBC [still] made me a part of this card December 6th,” Lara said. "It means a lot. Janibek, like I said, doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned along these lines.”

Lara would've been an underdog against Alimkhanuly, but DraftKings made him a 5-1 favorite versus Gonzalez.

Amazon's Prime Video will distribute Lara-Gonzalez on pay-per-view before Mexico’s Cruz (28-3-1, 18 KOs) defends his WBC interim junior welterweight title against Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs), an American from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in the 12-round main event.

Premier Boxing Champions’ four-fight show is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET and costs $74.99 in the United States.