Mexican bogeyman, Mauricio Lara, fights for a world title for the first time in his career, taking on Leigh Wood in Nottingham on Saturday night.
The clash is being promoted as ‘Dance With The Devil’ and, although it was presumed that Lara was in fact said devil, Wood has argued that is he who should be feared by his opponent.
Lara made himself known to UK fans in 2021, pulling off one of the upsets of the year by knocking out the previously unbeaten Josh Warrington.
Since then his reputation has only grown as he began to make a case for the hardest-hitting featherweight on the planet, securing back-to-back third round stoppage victories against Emilio Sanchez and Jose Sanmartin last year.
Now it seems that Lara has finally got his chance to make the next step in his career – becoming a world champion – but will have to do so in front of a hostile Nottingham crowd against fan-favourite Wood.
This presents a new challenge for Lara, who defeated the much-fancied Warrington in an empty arena during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, at the weigh-in, ‘Bronco’ was confident and unfazed, playing the role of the pantomime villain in a clip shared by Matchroom Boxing.
“I am going to drag you down by the horns. If you say that you are the devil, I’ll grab you by your f**king horns and bury you in your own f**king back yard. You will see, [I’m] number one.”
😤👿🔊#WoodLara | @DAZNBoxingpic.twitter.com/SnJFqPKlC0
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) February 17, 2023
Wood, for his part, told the Mexican he would have to kill him to take the belt.
The pair fight at the Motorpoint Arena tomorrow night, topping a bill which includes a British title fight between Dalton Smith and Billy Allington as well as the likes of Gary Cully and a heap of Matchroom’s top prospects.
The event will be available to live stream via the DAZN app for subscribers.