Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara (billed as “Dance with the Devil”) was a featherweight professional boxing match contested between WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood and Mauricio Lara. The bout took place on 18 February 2023 at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.[4] Lara defeated Wood via technical knockout in the 7th round.[5]
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| Date | 18 February 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA featherweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lara defeated Wood via round 7 TKO.[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Background edit
On 24 August 2022 was announced that Leigh Wood would make his second WBA title defence against Mexican professional boxer Mauricio Lara at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England on 24 September 2022.[6] However Wood withdrew from the fight ten days before it was supposed to take place, due to a torn biceps suffered in sparring.[7]
The bout was rescheduled for 18 February 2023 at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.[4]
Fight card edit
| Weight class | vs | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Card | |||||||
| Featherweight | Mauricio Lara | def. | Leigh Wood (c) | TKO | 7/12 | 2:54 | Note 1 |
| Super lightweight | Dalton Smith (c) | def. | Billy Allington | UD | 12 | Note 2 | |
| Lightweight | Gary Cully | def. | Wilfredo Flores | TKO | 2/10 | 1:52 | Note 3 |
| Cruiserweight | Cheavon Clarke | def. | Israel Duffus | UD | 10 | ||
| Super bantamweight | Diego Alberto Ruiz | def. | Gamal Yafai | UD | 10 | ||
| Preliminary Card | |||||||
| Super middleweight | Aaron Bowen | def. | Mathieu Gomes | KO | 1/6 | 1:35 | Note 4 |
| Super welterweight | Junaid Bostan | def. | Peter Kramer | TKO | 7/8 | 1:30 | |
| Super middleweight | Kieron Conway | def. | Jorge Silva | PTS | 8 | ||
| Super lightweight | Sam Maxwell | def. | Shaun Cooper | PTS | 6 | ||
^Note 1 For WBA featherweight title
^Note 2 For British super-lightweight title
^Note 3 For vacant WBA Inter-Continental lightweight title
^Note 4 Bowen's professional debut
Rematch edit
During the Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin broadcast, Eddie Hearn, Mauricio Lara and Leigh Wood appeared in the ring to announce the rematch which took place on 27 May at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.[8]
References edit
- ^ "BoxRec: Leigh Wood". BoxRec. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ "BoxRec: Mauricio Lara". BoxRec. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ Sky News (18 February 2023). "Leigh Wood loses WBA featherweight title in KO defeat to Mauricio Lara in Nottingham". Sky News.
- ^ a b Coppinger, Mike (9 January 2023). "Leigh Wood to defend WBA title vs. Mauricio Lara in February". ESPN.
- ^ Brookhouse, Brent (18 February 2023). "Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara fight results, highlights: Mexican challenger earns featherweight title with TKO". CBS News.
- ^ Random Hits (24 August 2022). "Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara Tops DAZN Tripleheader on September 24". BoxingScene.
- ^ Random Hits (13 September 2022). "Leigh Wood (Biceps) Injured, Lara Fight Postponed; Galahad-Hughes Elevated To Sept. 24 Main Event". BoxingScene.
- ^ Gray, Tom (4 April 2023). "Mauricio Lara vs Leigh Wood 2 date, start time, odds, card for 2023 boxing fight". The Sporting News.