A sparring injury will keep Leigh Wood from entertaining his home fans on September 24, but the show goes on.
Hype was building for the scrap between Wood and Mauricio Lara. It was certainly an impressive challenge for the Nottingham man to take, given Lara’s explosive style that was on display when he finished Josh Warrington inside the distance.
However, injuries happen in the sport of boxing and, this time around, Wood was the unlucky one. The event, set to be broadcast on DAZN, goes ahead regardless, with main event duties now falling to Maxi Hughes and Kid Galahad.
Matchroom Sport’s CEO, Eddie Hearn, spoke on the change of headliner.
“We’re gutted to lose such an explosive headliner in Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara so close to fight week but unfortunately Leigh suffered a torn bicep during sparring and there’s no way he can get in the ring against such a dangerous opponent with only one arm.”
“I’m pleased to confirm that our show at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on September 24 will go ahead with the IBO Lightweight World Title clash between Yorkshire rivals Maxi Hughes and Kid Galahad now topping the bill.”
‘Maximus’ will put his IBO lightweight belt on the line against former champion, Galahad. The latter is looking to return with a win – his last outing being a shock knockout defeat to Spain’s Kiko Martinez at featherweight.
Elsewhere on the card, Teri Harper will get a shot at Hannah Rankin’s super welterweight world titles in a fight that pits England against Scotland.
Harper, a former world champion herself, is moving up in weight following a brutal KO loss at the hands of Alycia Baumgardner.
Hearn pointed out that both fights were worthy of being top of the bill.
“Both Hughes vs. Galahad and Rankin vs. Harper are worthy of headlining their own shows and we’ve got some of the best emerging talent featuring on the undercard such as Cyrus Pattinson and Junaid Bostan.”
The action takes place at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham on Saturday September 24.