There will only be 98 days and 83 miles between Mauricio Lara’s takedown of Leigh Wood and the Nottingham man’s risky but admirable strike this weekend.
It was February 18 when the Mexican ‘Bronco’ poked a hole in Wood’s then-hidden plans for boxing, moves and winning cards. The Nottingham man swallowed the shot at the same time he landed one of his own but immediately fell onto the canvas.
He made it in time to get past the count but his coach Ben Davison dropped out to end the competition and give ‘Leigh-thal’ his third defeat of his career.
After such a halting failure, there are usually two schools of thought: get back on the horse, or beat Bronco to the original, and try to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Or walk away, rebuild your confidence, and try to exact revenge at some point later.
Given the nature of this defeat, many argue that Wood should do the latter, especially his promoter Eddie Hearn, who suggested Lara face Josh Warrington this time around. But for the 34-year-old from Gedling, there is no time to waste. So, three months and a week later, they’re on again, live on DAZN.
Manchester Arena, as opposed to Nottingham, is the venue, which suggests Hearn was expecting Leeds favorite Warrington to come out on top. Lara, just 25 years old and who has won by a margin against two of Britain’s top featherweights, arrives in Manchester as a world number one.
Wood insists he knows what adjustments he needs to make and that this rematch will be more like Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz than David Price-Tony Thompson. Even so, it was nearly impossible to resist Lara getting it right again. As the old adage goes, Wood will have to be perfect in 36 minutes but famous boxer Lara only has to be perfect in a second on Saturday night.
As always, after such a setback, there are always question marks surrounding the mental scar. Wood insists there isn’t and instead, the loss kindled a fire beneath him.
“My confidence was not dented by what happened,” he said. “I know what happened and why. I adjust every time I win, lose or draw. I came back with a better fighter and learned from the things I did wrong.
“For example, I lost the British title on the first try but on the second I made sure I didn’t. There’s always something new to learn, you haven’t finished boxing.”
But what would such a win do for Lara’s confidence as well? This will be 12 long rounds for Wood. Making a decision is not out of his reach but Lara has the tools to request a second consecutive stop here.
In primary support, local lightweight Jack Catterall fights for the first time since signing a long-term contract with Matchroom and takes on Darragh Foley, an Irishman living in Australia. Catterall, who still feels wronged after his loss to Josh Taylor, is hoping to use this new platform to become number one in the tournament but Foley 22-4-1 will win by making Robbie Davies Jnr uncomfortable at the tournament. Liverpool in March.
The Chorley man wants revenge on Taylor, who gave him the only defeat on his 26-1 (13) record, and will be keeping a close eye on the New York proceedings as the Scots face off against Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden on June 10. But that won’t matter unless he’s working on a Saturday — and he should. Catterall broadly decided to choose.
“Jack Catterall is another signing that we are extremely excited about,” Hearn said. “Arguably he will be the undisputed reigning ultralightweight world champion after his stellar performance against Josh Taylor in February 2022. Jack can’t wait to get back in the ring after a bout. The fight is out of his control and there are some big fights that need to be made for him in the competitive 140lbs.
A fair fight of women also took place after Cecilia Braekhus fell ill in Dublin over the weekend. The Norwegian was supposed to take on Terri Harper there but the Yorkshire lightweight boxer will now face Ivana Habzin 21-4 (7) in the 10th round of the second half in Manchester.
Harper will be reasonably smooth sailing against an opponent who has only hit the box once since January 2020, when she lost to Claressa Shields on points. A distinct victory for Harper is not unexpected.
There was an interesting clash for the vacant British welterweight title as Danny Ball took on Jamie Robinson over 10 innings. Ball was rebuilding from a devastating loss to Ekow Essowman to win the British Championship in 2021 when he fractured his jaw. But he is back with two wins in 2022 to set up this clash with Robinson.
The 31-year-old ‘Ginger Rocket’ has better momentum than Ball having won four sixth rounds since he lost to Billy Allington for the belt last February. But Ball should have enough to end here.
There are also matches for Aqib Fiaz and Campbell Hatton 11-0, who face Costin Ion and Michal Bulik respectively. Elsewhere, Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Aaron Bowen is back after making his successful professional debut on the first Wood-Lara card in Nottingham. The Coventry man’s professional performance was scheduled for six but he ended it in just 95 seconds and he will be hoping for another explosive performance here.
And there was also a newcomer with a familiar surname on the bottom card as William Crolla made his way through four rounds early in the night. The Manchester man is the brother of city favorite Anthony, who has topped this arena against the likes of Jorge Linares, Ricky Burns and Ismael Barroso in a memorable career at lightweight.
