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Mauricio Lara came in overweight for his rematch with Leigh Wood, but today’s (or tonight’s) fight is still going ahead. As a result of the flub – he missed the 126lb limit by just short of 4lbs, coming in at 129.8 – the WBA title he held will only be available for Wood to win this time around.
Wood (26-3-0, 16 KOs) had held this belt already, losing it to Lara in their contest in February- a fight he was winning handily until a moment’s inattention got him knocked out. Lara (26-2-1, 19 KOs) still has pride on the line – after the win in the first go round, and his demolition of Josh Warrington a few years ago, he’s started to build a reputation for coming over to England to beat local heroes in their own back yard. He’ll want to keep that running, even if he has to move on up a division after this.
In any case, both men are exciting fighters, making this one worth keeping up with. Wood’s astonishing comeback victory over Michael Conlan (also fighting tonight, on a separate but simultaneous card) was one of 2022’s fights of the year, whereas Lara brings heat wherever he goes.
This card also sees Jack Catterall, returning for the first time since his robbery loss against Josh Taylor for all the belts at light-welterweight last year. Before that, Terri Harper was meant to fight last week, defending her women’s WBA super-welterweight belt against Cecelia Braekhus, but an illness for Braekhus pushed her to this week, against late replacement Ivana Habazin.
The fight will be available on DAZN. The card will start at 2pm ET (7PM local British time), with main events ringwalks expected around 5PM ET (10PM BST). As ever, that may change depending on how the undercard goes, so stay tuned here.
The early prelims are likely to be available on a ‘Before the Bell’ youtube stream on DAZN boxing’s channel, but those are often announced very late and had not yet been at the time of writing.
A note: there was indeed a Before the Bell stream. Check the comments for a link if you want to look back on some of the action in full.
The event did run longer than the scheduled 5PM ringwalks for the main event. The undercard is now done, so tune in for those ringwalks and the action in our play-by-play below
Mauricio Lara vs Leigh Wood 2
Round-by-round
Round 1: After all the weight-related shenanigans, here we go. Can Wood take advantage of a drained opponent to win the belt back, or will the size be too much? He opens on the front foot, jabbing strongly. Lara circling. Walks into a hook, but his hand was up to defend it, so no harm. Lara doing very little here, Wood just jabbing. Now lara opens up with a bodyshot, followed by a missed left upstairs. Right hand lands by Wood. Lara landing the occasional shot, not doing enough to win the round, but he’s really about setting up the knockouts. Solid body jab by Wood as the round closes. 10-9 Wood
Round 2: Lara’s trying to throw counter rights over Wood’s jab. Big left hook from Lara, but he can’t follow up as he falls from a tangle of legs. Wood rocks him back with a jab. Lara really is almost unbothered about actually getting points on the board. Just setting up big shots. Wood lands an uppercut followed by a hook, Lara’s counter misses. Lara’s big weakness is his balance can be all over the shop as he throws, and Wood is trying to lure him on to shots. Body jab is risky but working for him. And a right uppercut drops Lara! Right on the chin as Lara ducks in! 20 seconds left in the round, and Lara responds by finally throwing volume. 10-8 Wood, 20-17
Round 3: Wood opens by catching Lara with a sharp right as Lara steps in. Then a bit of a head clash, nothing serious. Lara suddenly is bothered about getting points on the board, but it’s working against him for now, and another right hand backs Lara up. And now a left hook as Lara throws one too. Wood so far boxing his head off, but then he was in the first. And another right hand hurts Lara again! He’s not on bambi legs or anything, but these shots are getting to him. Lara leaps in and lads a left hook, but smothers the follow-up work. Big bodyshots from him now. He’s closed the round quite well, but still 10-9 Wood, 30-26
Round 4: The corner advice for Wood is really just about staying focused. Which makes sense. Comes out jabbing again, backing Lara to the ropes but maintaining distance. It’s notable that Wood is relying on a high right hand to defend the left hooks, rather than trying to pivot past it as he did in the first. Now uppercut lands from him, Lara hits the body. Lara aims to move in, but the jab stops that. Then he works the body again. Wood happy to flick the jab out at range. Wood catches Lara a couple of times as he moves in to end the round. Tight round, but 10-9 Wood, 40-35
Round 5: Wood has a cut by his left eye. Not dangerous at this stage though. Backs Lara onto the ropes with a jab, then backs off as Lara leaps forward, and clips him. Wood steps in with a jab and uppercut. Lara back to his thing, laying back and looking for counters. Wood dominating with the jab again. Scores a couple in an exchange, a right does land for Lara. The left hook is not there for Lara so far. Wood having repeated success with a short right as Lara comes in. 10-9 Wood, 50-44, though Lara might have picked up one or two here.
Round 6: That cut was caused by a clash of heads, rules the ref. Means if it’s stopped because of it, it will go to the cards. No sign of that so far though. This is tense more than it is exciting, as they jockey for position. Wood’s jab is repeatedly rocking Lara back on his heels with his jab- he isn’t really hurt, but, again, his balance is all over the shop sometimes. Lara tries to jab his way in in his own right, but his footwork isn’t great and he leans way too far over. Wood playing in-and-out far more than the first fight. 1-2 lands again. Uppercut. Lara’s main idea is to throw over Wood’s jab. Now a solid jab lands from him. Lara chases to finish the round, as he has been, but 10-9 Wood, 60-53
Round 7: This is where Lara scored the comeback last time. As dominant as he looks here, Wood has to keep that in mind. Still, he seems to have adjusted for the errors he made there, in hindsight. And a nice right uppercut. Right hand lands on the gloves, but the jab is landing consistently. Pushes Lara to the ropes, maintains distance and works at mid-range. Lara literally leaps in with a right hand, isn’t punished for it but he can’t be doing that too often. Leaps in again, uppercut punishes him, then a left hook. Chopping rights. Almost everything Wood is landing right now. Lara clinches and thumps the body a bit, but they’re not hurtful. Now he manages to frame up a bit and land some meaningful bodywork. Can’t keep it up though, and Wood dominated that round. 10-9 Wood, 70-62
Round 8: Body jabs by Wood to open. Patience is a virtue, but for Lara now? This much? It’s not as if, unlike the first, he’s finding any signs of a home for any of his big swings. Mostly, when he tries he’s being punished with uppercuts or short straight rights. A jab does snap Wood’s head back. But he tries another exchange and loses out. At the moment, this is an exercise in why a counterpuncher needs a good jab. Wood is winning that battle, leaving Lara having to chase and falling short. Comes in with some heavy artillery, but a right hand clips him, then Wood works the body to close. 10-9 Wood, 80-71
Round 9: The round starts with a pause to wipe some vaseline off that cut. When the action resumes, Lara tries a big right but it misses hugely. Wood feinting very effectively. Lara just bouncing at range in response. He can’t really feint, because all his punches are so loaded it’s obvious when he’s not throwing one for real. A solid right does catch Wood slightly off-balance, but he’s not hurt. And Lara leaps in again and is tagged. He’s always dangerous, but frankly this is a bit embarrassing. Sharp right hand lands for Wood. And a cuffing left. Lara leaps in again and is met by a right. The action is fairly sporadic, but whenever they come together, Lara is missing far more than he hits. 10-9 Wood, 90-80
Round 10: Lara looked pleased with himself between rounds, and I don’t understand why. Confidently laying in wait for your power is one thing, but he’s barely tickled Wood so far. Leaps into another straight right. Wood varying the jab, mixing it with a little cuffing almost-hook. Lara does clinch up and land some solid to the body. But another sharp right by Wood. Lara’s balance, again, atrotious. Wood jabs in, steps in with a sharp right, backs off. Lara doesn’t even try to punch. This is genuinely bizarre. Jabs continue to land as the round closes, and a solid right hand. Lara slips and touches down. No knockdown, but he looks very poor. 10-9 Wood, 100-89
Round 11: Lara has never been this far before in his career. Well, he’s reached that milestone, and unless something massive happens, that’s all he’s achieving today. I repeat, he’s always dangerous, but he hasn’t looked it at all today. That is in part due to an excellent performance by Wood, who’s shored up every issue and found even more holes in Lara. Superb tactical performance. Doesn’t need to engage at all now, and he’s just winning on the jab. Sharp right again as Lara leaps in face first. Same again but an uppercut. Does take a right, but barely notices. And another straight by Wood. And solid body jabs to close the round. 10-9 Wood, 110-98
Round 12: Make or break for Lara in the final round. They hug at the start of the round. Then Wood gets to work, jabbing again. Lara finally shows some life, lands a left hook, but he’s off-balance and has no power. Reaches and is matadored. Wood maintaining positioning excellently, always space to move into. And a nice step-in right. Lara getting messy. He’s stopped trying again though after a couple of flurries to start. Baffling. And a left hook staggers Lara! Body shot follow-up. Ref isn’t happy with Lara, I think for hitting on the break. 30 seconds left, and Wood is most of the way home. Little rights and jabs continue to score. Absolute clinic from Wood. 10-9 Wood, 120-107
Official scores: 118-109, 118-109 116-111
Full fight card results and highlights
WBA world featherweight title (for Wood only): Mauricio Lara vs. Leigh Wood
- This, of course, is a rematch, with Lara staging a comeback victory in Wood’s home town of Nottingham in February.
- Lara has lost the title he won then, though, blowing weight by nearly four lbs yesterday. That makes the fight even more spicy, and with questions of whether the advantage will be with Wood, if Lara was nonetheless drained, or if the extra bulk will just be too much.
- After a dominant performance, including a second-round knockdown, Wood wins 118-109, 118-109 116-111
Super lightweight: Jack Catterall vs. Darragh Foley
- Catterall (26-1-0, 13 KOs) suffered the crushing disappointment of being robbed on the cards after a seemingly clear victory of undisputed champion Josh Taylor last year. Since then, he’s tried to get the rematch, and other fights, together without success.
- He comes off the layoff against Foley (22-4-1, 10KOs). This is more to shake the ring-rust off than anything else, but if he’s really short Foley may show something.
- Catteral dominated most of the fight, without really looking for the finish.
- When he did start to push, later on, he got silly- dropping Foley in the seventh but getting docked a point immediately for hitting Foley after he touched down.
- It turned tetchy after that, with Foley complaining about repeated low blows and a lot of pushing and shoving.
- Still, Catteral won comfortably, with Foley having very little for him throughout the fight.
- Catterall wins, 99-88, 98-89, 97-90
WBA women’s super-welterweight title: Terri Harper vs. Ivana Habazin
- Harper (13-1-1, 6 KOs) was meant to be fighting the veteran Cecilia Braekhus last weekend. That fell through at the last minute due to illness, so instead she takes on Habazin (21-4-0, 7KOs)
- An entertaining, back-and-forth fight. Harper was able to box well when at range with an advantage in speed and accuracy, but Habazin was periodically able to close distance and unload in the pocket, showing her greater power.
- Harper wins the decision, 98-92, 97-93, 97-93
Super-featherweight: Aqib Fiaz vs. Costin Ion
- Fiaz (11-0, 1 KO) is clearly not known for his power, but at 23 is a slick, classy prospect. Spain-based Romanian Costin Ion is known as a pressure fighter, here to test those defensive skills.
- Fiaz boxed excellently through five rounds, but in the sixth a huge hook dropped him, and left him reeling for the last 30 seconds of the round.
- That led to an exciting close, with Ion chasing hard and Fiaz finding him with some nice sharp counters.
- Fiaz holds on to win, 76-75
Welterweight: Danny Ball vs. Jamie Robinson
- First up on the main card, Ball (12-1-1, 5 KOs) faces Robinson (15-5-2, 4 KOs) for the Welterweight English title.
- These regional titles are a solid feature of British boxing- neither of these fighters are ever likely to be world level, and Robinson hasn’t come close to British, but they still have a meaningful title to contest for, and it makes for a lot of local interest that might not always materialise otherwise.
- The first round was slow, but it heated up in the second, as Ball dropped Robinson in the first 30 seconds. Robinson responded by simply trying to punch Ball back to range, despite still being clearly hurt.
- No further fireworks, but Danny Ball boxed his way to a dominant victory, with Robinson’s corner stopping the fight after the 8th round.
- Ball will now be calling for a rematch with Ekow Essuman, the current British title and deliverer of the only loss on his record.
- Ball wins, TKO-8
Super-featherweight: William Crolla vs. Joe Hardy
- William Crolla is another relative of a local hero, the brother of former lightweight champion Anthony Crolla. He makes his pro debut here in a four-round fight.
- Cornered by his brother, he boxed well, but did have a knockdown scored against him in round 3. It was a slip as much as a true KD, but a shot did land at the same time, so not completely out of order for the ref to score it as such. That made it interesting.
- It meant he needed a big final round to make sure, but he pulled it out, and came away with a 39-37 score. That suggests the ref scored the knockdown round 10-9 rather than 10-8 – something we’ve been seeing a bit more of in recent months when the dropped fighter was otherwise winning the round.
Super lightweight: Campbell Hatton vs. Michal Bulik
- Campbell Hatton, 22, is the son of Manchester boxing legend Ricky Hatton. He faced Polish journeyman Bulik.
- He’d been getting a push on his dad’s name. That he’s so low on the card suggests time is running out on how far they think they can push him, but it may also have been a deliberate to get local fans in early.
- In any case, a decent performance from him. Bulik made him work early, but Hatton’s constant pressure told but in the fifth he wobbled Bulik badly and the referee stopped it.
Middleweight: Aaron Bowen vs. Aljaz Venko
- Bowen, 24 and 1-0 coming into this, is a prospect in the very early stages of his career.
- He wins on points against journeyman Venko, moving to 2-0 on a score of 60-55 from referee John Latham (as is standard for British Boxing Board of Control-sanctioned fights that are not for titles).
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