Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara 2 fight breakdown
Repeat or Revenge? ‘Leigh-thal’ and ‘Bronco’ battle it out again in highly anticipated rematch
‘Leigh-thal’ Leigh Wood (26-3, 16KO) aims to regain his WBA World featherweight title in a rematch with the Mexican menace Mauricio Lara (26-2-1, 19KO) on May 27 in Manchester, live on DAZN.
It’s a night of world champion boxing, with Wood’s former victim Michael Conlan vying for the IBF strap in Belfast and ex-teammates Lawrence Okolie and Chris Billam-Smith clashing for the WBO cruiserweight crown in Bournemouth. If Wood and Conlan can both get the win, then we could be celebrating the glorious victory of three separate UK champions in one single night.
Wood and Lara have crossed swords before. It was three months ago, on February 18, in Wood’s home city of Nottingham, where he was disastrously stopped in the seventh stanza after being floored heavily and subsequently his corner threw in the towel despite the champion getting to his feet, prepared to fight on.
Trained by Ben Davison, 34-year-old Wood started the fight in command, using his reach to keep Lara at distance. These featherweights are the same height, but Wood is a stand-up tall fighter, whereas Lara is slightly hunched over in his style.
The bout swung back and forth as they both absorbed big shots from each other. Wood arguably landed his heaviest left hooks and straight right hands but couldn’t put a dent in the Mexican. Instead, it was ‘Bronco’, named so for his ability to hit like a horse, who found the fight-ending punch. The CompuBox punch stats show they were just a single punch apart at the time of stoppage, Lara landing 89 to Wood’s 88, which just shows how close the contest was.
Before their first meeting, they shared the same number of losses at two each, but now it’s the same amount of victories they have in common. Their records are almost identical with 26 wins each and both have failed to get a decision on three occasions.
The Mexican is just 25-years-old, nine years Wood’s junior, and is a heavy-handed handful. Questions were raised previously as to why Wood accepted such a risky fight when he really didn’t need to.
Lara has no respect for his opponents and throws a lot of shots aggressively. It’s hard to picture him throwing a jab because he just lunges in from long range with looping hooks.
He was first introduced to British boxing fans when he stunned an undefeated Josh Warrington in February 2021, behind closed doors during lockdown.
He rocked ‘The Leeds Warrior’ with left and right hooks right from the start and floored Warrington early in the fourth, which is when the fight should have been stopped, but referee Howard Foster wrongfully allowed the home fighter to keep going, and, as a result, absorbed another five rounds of unnecessary pain and punishment until the stunning ninth-round stoppage, coming from a leaping left hook to the jaw.
Trained by his father, he means business and is always looking to hurt his opponents right from the get-go. Of course, opening up so often, especially when putting so much behind every shot, means you are vulnerable, so he does get caught a lot, but then he just blinks and continues marching forward.
Wood threw a body shot that landed on Lara’s left hip in round five of their first fight and he instantly reacted and withdrew, looking like it hurt him. Incentivised, Wood came out aggressively in round six, throwing jabs to the midriff and trying to take him out, but whenever Lara absorbed a big shot to the head, he just smiled in acknowledgement and responded back.
Lara is on a 16-fight unbeaten streak and his confidence is stratospheric right now. His last loss was a shocking 50-second knockout defeat to Elliot Chavez in what was an unlucky 13th fight for him. His only other loss was on his pro debut by split decision, which tends to happen a lot more than people think.
The North American loves fighting in the UK, he hasn’t lost in his three fights here – two wins, one draw (Technical Decision) – and was crowned world champion on these shores.
Lara is ruthless and powerful – a deadly combination. Wood is a good technical fighter and can be elusive; it’s easy to forget he was trained by Dominic Ingle so still possesses that Ingle Gym style, but being a stand up tall boxer, he is a big target, there to be hit.
The rematch takes place on a bigger stage, with more at stake for both men, on a night of champions as three world title fights involving UK fighters takes place on the same day. Can Wood do his part to make it a hattrick for the United Kingdom? We wait – and hope – with bated breath…
Betting Odds
Wood is the outsider at 11/5 with Betway, while defending champion Lara is the bookies favourite at 4/11. The odds for a draw are quite low at 14/1.
Predictions
It was a close contest for seven rounds until the perfect punch was deployed by Lara. Fans thought Wood was ok to continue, but I stand with Ben Davison. He was back to his feet, there were only 13 seconds to go, but he was primed to take another big shot and that would have been very damaging.
You would want Wood to approach this fight behind his busy jab, using his feet to keep out of range, utilising that ‘Ingle movement’ to evade attacks, while delivering those big straight rights and counter left hooks when the opportunities allow.
However, Lara is not an opponent you can keep at bay. He will leap in from range and he will find his target. And every shot is thrown with intent. His favourite shot is the left hook up top, which was the showstopper in the first fight.
I can see yet another thrilling fight, with Wood coming back improved, more disciplined and diligent, looking to land his straight shots from range without engaging too much to tempt fate. Perhaps he should be busier, utilising the jab more and using it as an annoyance, just to upset Lara’s rhythm.
Despite what the pundits said at ringside during the first match, I didn’t think Lara was spent at any point. He trains at a very altitude above sea level and has an impressive engine. If he was that drained then he wouldn’t have been able to draw upon such a powerful blow to finish the fight off.
Wood, at 34, is the finished article and, although he may come back a bit more knowledgeable and calculated, his chin will still be there to hit and Lara won’t miss over the duration of 36 minutes. A big bomb from Lara will hit his target at some point and that will change the fight when it does.
Last time, he landed on average 12 punches per round, with eight of those being power punches. Going by those stats, Wood will have to absorb up to 100 power punches from Lara if this rematch goes the distance. I say that because I find it difficult to see Lara being stopped after Wood landed some of his best shots on him already.
The last punches of the first fight were synchronised left hooks landing on each other simultaneously, but one took the blow and the other couldn’t.
Verdict: Lara to KO Wood between rounds 9-12.
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