Junior middleweight world titlist Erislandy Lara's four defenses have all come in matches that were less than well-received by boxing fans because he faced opponents given little chance to win or to even make the fights exciting. No. 5 figures to be perhaps the most lackluster of all.

Lara will face faded former titleholder Yuri Foreman in the main event of the first Spike-televised Premier Boxing Champions card of 2017 on Jan. 13 (9 p.m. ET) at Hialeah Park Racing & Casino in Miami, Florida, PBC announced Tuesday.

Lara, 33, a Cuban defector based in Houston, hopes to draw from the Cuban community in South Florida.

"I'm very excited to be making my return to the ring in front of my Cuban fans in Miami on Spike," Lara said. "Yuri Foreman is a former world champion who is dedicated to this sport and will be looking to win another world title. I expect nothing but the best from him. On fight night, I'm making another statement and going for the knockout."

Lara, who has so far defended against Ishe Smith, Delvin Rodriguez, Jan Zaveck and Vanes Martirosyan, has only two knockouts in his past nine bouts and has a defensive style that has long made for unappealing bouts. What is surprising is that Foreman has even been sanctioned by the WBA to challenge for the 154-pound belt.

Foreman (34-2, 10 KOs) has done nothing to earn a world title shot, having fought only twice in wins against journeyman opponents since 2013. Since being knocked out twice in a row -- by Miguel Cotto in his title loss in 2010 and Pawel Wolak in 2011 -- Foreman has faced only club-level opposition in his previous six fights.

Erislandy Lara will make his fifth title defense against former titleholder Yuri Foreman in the main event of a card on Jan. 13 in Miami. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

But Foreman, 36, a native of Belarus living in Brooklyn, New York, is happy to get another shot at a belt, whether he earned it or not.

"I'm thrilled to be fighting for the world title," Foreman said. "I'm really looking forward to showcasing my skills and talent and becoming a two-time world champion. At this stage of my career, it would be a tremendous accomplishment. Lara is very crafty and many elite fighters have had trouble dealing with his style, but I have studied him and am very confident that I will defeat him by presenting him with something he's never seen before."

In 2009, Foreman outpointed a badly weight-drained Daniel Santos to become the first Orthodox Jewish fighter to win a world title in more than 70 years. He will challenge Lara for the same belt.

Foreman, an ordained rabbi, has agreed to fight Lara on the Jewish Sabbath -- the fight is on a Friday night -- which is something he steadfastly declined to do previously in his career because of his religious beliefs.

As for Lara, he hopes a win will set up a world title unification fight if he wins.

"After this fight, it's time to unify the division, then move up to win the middleweight titles," Lara said.

In the scheduled 10-round co-feature, former super middleweight world titleholder Anthony Dirrell (29-1-1, 23 KOs), 32, of Flint, Michigan, will take on 21-year-old Norbert Nemesapati (24-4, 17 KOs), of Hungary, who has won three very low-level fights in a row since suffering a sixth-round knockout to contender Callum Smith in September.

Dirrell has won two fights in a row since losing his world title by majority decision to Badou Jack in April 2015.