By Ian S Palmer
WBA Featherweight Champion Mauricio Lara meets former champion Leigh Wood of England in Manchester, England in a rematch this Saturday, May 27th. Wood took the title in July, 2021 with a 12th-round TKO over Can Xu of China and defended it via a 12th-round stoppage over Michael Conlan but was then halted in the seventh round by Lara in February when Wood’s corner threw in the towel after a vicious knockdown. This weekend’s 12 round bout can be seen live in most nations on DAZN.
The 34-year-old Wood enters the ring with a record of 26-3 with 16 Ko’s. He made his pro debut in 2011 after a good amateur career and has boxed 151 rounds since. He’s also captured the British, British Midlands, Commonwealth Boxing Council, and WBO European Featherweight Titles along the way as a pro. His first loss was a sixth-round TKO at the hands of Gavin McDonnell in 2015 for the vacant British Super Bantamweight title.
Wood’s second defeat came at the hands of James Dickens for the WBO European Featherweight Title in February, 2020 via a 10-round majority decision. His biggest wins have been over Michael Conlan, Can Xu and the likes of Isaac Owusu, Josh Gale, Lee Glover, Ryan Doyle, David Joyce and Reece Mould. Wood has decent power with a current knockout ratio of 55.2 per cent and his last seven wins have all come by way of stoppage. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch wingspan.
Lara is 25 years old and made his pro debut back in October, 2015 as a teenager and has boxed 125 rounds since. He measures 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch reach, which is the same as Wood in both departments. Lara carries a record of 26-2-1 with 18 Ko’s into the ring with him which means he also possesses good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 65.5 per cent with 11 of his last 12 wins coming by stoppage.
Lara’s defeats came at the hands of Julio Carabino by four-round split decision in his pro debut and he was stopped in 50 seconds by Eliot Chavez in May, 2018. His lone draw was a technical decision after two rounds with Josh Warrington in September, 2021 when the fight was stopped due to a cut to Lara’s eye from an accidental headbutt.
Lara had made a name for himself seven months earlier when he decked the previously unbeaten IBF Featherweight Champion Warrington in the fourth round and then stopped him in the ninth in an upset. Up until then, his level of opposition wasn’t the greatest but all of his opponents entered the ring with winning records.
Prediction…
Wood surprised a lot of people with his excellent performance against Xu in his first test against an upper-echelon boxer and then replicated it against Conlan by stopping them both in the final round. He was also performing very well against Lara in February until he got caught cold and was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the controversial stoppage by his own corner. He has great stamina and carries his power until the late rounds. Lara is nine years younger than Wood and possesses an aggressive, hard-punching style. He doesn’t appear to worry about the judges during his fights as he doesn’t plan on them going the distance. He needed to stop Wood in the first fight to beat him or at least drop him along the way or dominate him to get the decision in the UK. The power-punching Lara took the best route and should be able to replicate it this weekend to keep his title.
