Egis Klimas came to the conclusion last month that Carlos Adames was simply spooked by the thought of fighting Janibek Alimkhanuly.

Adames, the WBC middleweight champion, was offered a title unification fight against Alimkhanuly. The Kazakh southpaw agreed to face Erislandy Lara only after prolonged negotiations between Alimkhanuly's handlers and Adames' team didn't result in an agreement for them to meet December 6 in San Antonio.

Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs) and Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) will fight for Alimkhanuly's IBF and WBO crowns and Lara's WBA belt on the Lamont Roach-Isaac Cruz undercard at Frost Bank Center, the home arena of the NBA's Spurs.

Klimas, Alimkhanuly’s manager, expressed disappointment during a virtual press conference Tuesday regarding Adames' reluctance to battle Alimkhanuly.

"Well, you know, we been in a lotta talks back and forth going," Klimas said. "I believe Adames decided not to fight Janibek at any point. My personal opinion was he was afraid to fight with Janibek, and didn't want a risk. But working with PBC, we made nice arrangements and a nice agreement, thanks to PBC – they helped to put this fight together."

Lara, 42, will end a 14-month layoff when he and Alimkhanuly box in the co-feature of a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view show ($74.99). The inactive Lara last fought in September 2024, when he stopped former welterweight and junior welterweight champ Danny Garcia (38-4, 22 KOs) after nine rounds at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The crafty Cuban southpaw jumped at the opportunity to add two more middleweight titles to his collection once Adames declined it.

"It was just about waiting patiently, seeing what shook out," Lara said. "I trust in my promoters, my people, to let me know when, you know, this was gonna happen.

"Whether it would happen or not, I was gonna be ready for whatever came next for me. As far as Adames goes, you know, whether he or I was gonna fight Janibek, I know that we were gonna be ready for him, to represent Latin America."

Alimkhanuly, 32, is thankful Lara was more ambitious than the Dominican Republic's Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs), who hasn't fought since his controversial split draw with England's Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) on February 22 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"First of all, we wanted to thank him for taking this fight and for giving me this opportunity," Alimkhanuly said of Lara. "Everybody knows I'm always talking about [that] I'm trying to be undisputed. I need all four belts. One belt is [held by] Lara. So, waiting for December 6th, and everybody will see a good show December 6th."