Knockout machine Mauricio Lara is looking incredibly powerful ahead of his title challenge against WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood this Saturday night on DAZN at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.
Lara (25-2-1, 18 KOs) showed off his power during an open workout on Wednesday, and his shots sounded like they were coming from a middleweight.
The noise of the impact of Lara’s shots makes it difficult to imagine Wood being able to hang in there long on Saturday. Unless Wood can get to Lara, he’s probably not going to last long inside the ring.
“We’re prepared for 12 rounds. Sometimes when you’re pretty much certain about an outcome, it can be completely split on its head with the opposite, and it could be a points victory,” said Leigh Wood to Eat Sleep Boxing Repeat about his fight on Saturday night against Mauricio Lara.
“I know what to do, and I’m comfortable doing it. I can definitely crack, but just coming out to try and knock somebody out, there’s a lot more to boxing. Until I came down here with Ben Davison, I don’t know how much there was to learn.
“I never look at the bookie’s odds because it’s the way the public thinks. Sometimes the majority of what the public thinks is totally wrong. My eyes are set on Mauricio Lara, but I’m confident coming through it.
“I’m going to win this fight and headline at the City Ground. Warrington would be a big fight that would sell. The Conlan rematch would be massive. Luis Lopez. I’ve got so many options, but I’ve got to win this fight, which I’m very confident about doing. After that, we can start looking at names.
“I think that’s a massive fight for the stadium [Josh Warrington] and the Conlan rematch as well. I’m hearing rumors of him fighting for a world title. The Warrington fight is the juiciest one for the fans, and that would probably be the best atmosphere as well.
“Around six or seven,” said Wood about his prediction for the Lara fight. “He’ll be too reckless. I’m going to meet him in the middle of the ring, and I’ve told him this. Hopefully, he comes out and meets me in the middle of the ring, and we’ll see what happens.
“It’s basically down to the little things and the things you’ve been drilling. I’ve been watching a lot of videos [of Lara], and my team goes over and analyzes hours and hours of footage. They dumb it down for me to get the simplest form to stay right,” said Wood.
