Mauricio Lara has sent a warning to Leigh Wood ahead of their February 18 featherweight world title fight.
Wood will defend his WBA belt against the Mexican bogeyman, who is best known on UK shores for knocking out Josh Warrington in 2021. A rematch between the pair was cut short due to a cut on Lara from a clash of heads.
Since then, the Mexican puncher has struggled to get the fights he deserves in the division, and Wood must be commended on his willingness to step into the ring with such a dangerous opponent when there were other options.
Lara, who’s playing his part of the promotion well, told Boxing Scene that he had no problem with trading from the first bell.
“I am not going to expect anything, I am going all in for everything from the first round. Wood punches harder than Warrington, but on February 18 we will see who has the biggest punch.
We have a plan A and a plan B because we don’t want to be surprised. We are well prepared … The fight will not reach a decision, I will win it by knockout.”
The build up has had some added animosity from a previously pulled fight due to an injury on Wood’s part. Lara is adamant that it was faked, and this doesn’t sit well with the Nottingham man, who now sees the fight as personal.
Again, the challenger is fine with that.
“I like that my opponent talks, he will see that it is not good to talk, that it is not good to hallucinate. I speak with my fists up in the ring. Wood is a great fighter but he is very talkative. Saying these things to me is his worst mistake, he will even need therapy to recover, I will be the worst nightmare of his life.
I have confidence in myself because of my preparation and what we have worked for. What characterises me is aggressiveness, being a warrior inside the ring, but we have worked hard in the gym to have more weapons in the fight.”
The action goes down exclusively on DAZN from Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena, the same stage Wood won a fight of the year contender against Michael Conlan last year.