‘Can we take a second to admire the cojones of Leigh Wood!’ – Twitter reacts to Lara vs. Wood 2

REVENGE! Leigh Wood has regained the WBA featherweight championship after defeating Mauricio Lara this past Saturday. The now two-time champion turned in a dominant performance against Lara, who fell short in his first defense.

Twitter reacts to Mauricio Lara vs. Leigh Wood 2

On Twitter, pros reacted to Mauricio Lara vs. Leigh Wood 2:

Here is how our own Lukasz Fenrych detailed the twelfth round of the fight:

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, 120-117

Next for Leigh Wood?

During his post-fight interview, Leigh Wood gave Mauricio Lara credit for being a great opponent, despite his weight miss for their fight.

“I wasn’t losing no matter what,“ said Wood. “Ten pounds or whatever. I wasn’t losing tonight. Mauricio Lara is a great fighter, but I’ve got a great team and I knew what I had to do.“

As for his next opponent, Wood said there were two options he would consider.

“I think Josh Warrington makes sense, but a [Luis Alberto] Lopez unification is even bigger. I’ve only got two fights left. I want my happy ending.”

A few hours prior to Mauricio Lara vs. Leigh Wood 2, Luis Alberto Lopez finished Michael Conlan via fifth-round TKO to retain the IBF featherweight championship. Perhaps Wood and Lopez can get into the ring now that they have their respective championships.

Full Results from Mauricio Lara vs. Leigh Wood 2:

• Leigh Wood def. Mauricio Lara by unanimous decision (118-109, 118-109, 116-111)
• Jack Catterall def. Darragh Foley by unanimous decision (99-88, 98-89, 97-90)
• Terri Harper def. Ivana Habazin by unanimous decision (98-92, 97-93, 97-93)
• Danny Ball def. Jamie Robinson by TKO at 3:00 of Round 8
• Aqib Fiaz def. Costin Ion by decision
• William Crolla def. Joe Hardy by decision 
• Campbell Hatton def. Michal Bulik by TKO at 0:38 of Round 5
• Aaron Bowen def. Aljaž Venko by decision

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Kristen King

Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016, getting her start with outlets such as FanSided, MyMMANews and MMA-Prospects. She joined the BE team in 2020, covering a mix of news, events and injuries. In her time with BE, Kristen has created ‘Fright of the Night,’ a series that highlights some of the worst injuries in the sport.

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