We witnessed one of the biggest upsets in recent British boxing history back on the night of February 13th, when a massive outsider, the largely unknown Mauricio Lara, shocked an unbeaten Josh Warrington by way of a quite brutal ninth round stoppage win.
Warrington, who had vacated his IBF featherweight belt in an effort to get things moving as far as the big fights he wanted, saw the Lara fight as a tune-up type affair.
It proved to be far from that, with the 25/1 underdog scoring a heavy knockdown in round four and then getting the stoppage win over an unbelievably courageous Warrington in the ninth round.
It was later revealed how Warrington had suffered a fractured jaw in the fight, as well as a perforated eardrum and a shoulder injury.
Immediately after tasting pro defeat for the very first time, the hugely popular warrior from Leeds called for the rematch, with Warrington, 30-1(7) going as far as to say that if he cannot beat Lara in the rematch he will strongly consider calling it a career.
Despite advice from plenty of people who suggested Warrington should take another fight before going back in with the Mexican dangerman, Warrington told Eddie Hearn what he wanted.
Now, Hearn says things are moving as far as a date and a venue for Lara-Warrington II. Speaking with White and Jordan, Hearn said today that the date being worked on is September 4th, with Headingly Stadium in the heart of Leeds being the proposed venue. Hearn says there should hopefully be full fan attendance permitted by then.
“We are planning that fight for September 4 at Headingly – the famous stadium in Leeds,” Hearn said today. “It’s gonna be a huge event.
Talk about a dangerous fight for Josh Warrington, it was a brutal war the first one and he wants to go straight back into the rematch in front of his people in Leeds. We feel that by September we will be allowed 100 percent capacity in an outdoor stadium so that’s the provisional date for that rematch.”
As big as Headingly Stadium is, there is a good chance Warrington’s army of fans will fill it for this fight. A second hard and exciting battle seems almost inevitable and Warrington’s career really will be on the line.
There is no real need for hype when it comes to selling this fight. Warrington deserves a ton of credit for wanting to get right back in there with the man who inflicted so much damage on him, but one cannot help wondering if this is a smart move.
A fractured jaw is of course no joke, neither is a perforated eardrum. It is to be hoped a little over six months will be enough time for Warrington to fully heal and be at his best for the rematch. Lara, 22-2(15) and the younger man by seven years at age 23, will no doubt be feeling he can and will make another successful trip to the UK.
This is a tough fight to pick. Was Warrington simply looking past Lara in the first fight? Was Lara “lucky?” Did Lara take something from Warrington he will never get back? You can call this rematch a 50/50 rematch. The city of Leeds will be rocking on the night of September 4. If Warrington can get the revenge win. If he can’t, who knows how Warrington’s super-passionate fans might react.