By Barry Holbrook: WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood insists that he will stand his ground this Saturday and not run from challenger Mauricio Lara as many believe he’ll do in their fight at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. The two will headline live on DAZN.
Wood is a fighter that only knows how to brawl with his opponents, so it’s unrealistic to imagine his trainer Ben Davison tinkering with his fighting style by having him run all night or worse, spoiling nonstop to keep Lara from obliterating him like he did his last opponent Emilio Sanchez.
If Wood is serious about his desire to trade with Lara, it would be a good idea for Davison to have the white towel ready to throw into the ring because this is the wrong guy for Leigh to be slugging it out with.
It’s hard to believe the 34-year-old Wood (26-2, 16 KOs) will dare fight the powerful Lara (25-2-1, 18 KOs), given how weaker punchers like Gavin McDonnell and Michael Conlan dented his chin.
We saw what happened to Josh Warrington when he tried to slug with Lara.
It didn’t end well for him in their first fight in 2021, and in the rematch, Warrington arguably took the easy way out by repeatedly head-butting Lara until he was cut, resulting in the fight being stopped after two rounds. Many fans feel Warrington should have been disqualified.
Wood to meet Lara in the center of the ring
“He’s all gunfire and explosive, and if you look at both of us, we’ve got knockout reels; it looks like what it’s built to be, ‘Dance with the Devil. You’ve got to decide which one is the devil,” said Leigh Wood to Pitch Boxing about his fight this Saturday night against Mauricio Lara.
“It sounds like you and [trainer] Ben Davison have been getting into a bit of psychology,” said Gareth A. Davies to Leigh Wood. “What I’m going to read into it is educated pressure in this fight and not recklessness.”
“I want to come out and meet him in the center of the ring, which not many fighters do,” said Wood. “They think I’m going to come out and be on my bike, but I’m going to be right in front of him.
“The same thing that gives him most of his successes is going to be detrimental for him in this fight. Obviously, I can punch, and I’m very confident in the game plan and very confident and executing it as well,” said Wood.
“So if you beat Mauricio Lara, who else is on the radar for ‘styles make fights’ for you?” said Davies.
“I’ve won a world title, I’ve won a British title, and there are three things I started out to do in 2020. I said there are three things I want to do. The last thing I want to do is to headline in the City Ground [in Nottingham] and be the first person to do so,” said Wood,
Leigh already looking ahead
“So whoever is in the opposite corner to me is irrelevant. I think Josh Warrington would make for a massive fight. He brings the fans down from Leeds,” Wood said, looking past Lara towards his desired fight against Josh Warrington.
“It’s a massive fight and a great atmosphere, or if [Michael] Conlan wants to win a world title, he can have his rematch at the City Ground if he wants it or if [IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto] Lopez wants a unification fight, it gives me the chance to win another world title,” Wood said.
“I’ve got a lot of options, but first of all, I’m not looking past Lara. I’m so focused on winning this fight, but at the same time, I’m confident in this fight as well,” continued Wood.
“Is there an ambition when you draw all your fans to the City Ground? What is it, a 35,000 capacity there?” said Gareth.
“I think it’s just under 30 [thousand], yeah,” said Wood.
“Well, at least 5,000 of them will want to travel for a fight in Vegas there. Is there an ambition to take the hordes with you?” said Gareth.
“Having traveled over many years with so many fighters to America, there’s the kind of rubber stamp; you’ve done that as well and taken everyone on tour. They’ve put their hard-earned money into a long weekend in Vegas. Is there an ambition to do that as well?
“I’ve made a lot of promises before I turned pro. I used to joke about them, but now I’m not so far away from that,” said Wood. “I think the Vegas fight; I want my flight paid for me. Vegas is the one that excites me more than anything.
“Like I said, it’s fight by fight. It’s Lara first, and hopefully the City Ground in early summer or late Spring, and then we can look at things like Vegas. MSG [Madison Square Garden] is massive as well, but if I had to pick between MSG and Vegas, I’d lean towards Vegas,” said Wood.
Lara is reckless
“Yeah, have you spoken to Carl Froch in the last few months about how life is going and the fact that you plan on overtaking him as the village of Gedling’s most famous boxer?” said Davies.
“Carl did extremely well in picking up belts [at 168]. I think he got three out of four,” said Wood. “It’s not competition. Carl is one of my heroes coming through. He was a massive inspiration at my doorstep. He sometimes gives me advice.”
“Give us a prediction. Is this going to go 12 rounds on February 18th?” said Gareth to Wood.
“From my point of view, I’m prepared for 12 rounds, but I can’t see it going 12 rounds,” said Wood about his fight with Lara. “I’d be surprised if it even gets to the sixth round or out of the sixth round.
“He’s a dangerous fighter, but the same thing that makes him dangerous makes him reckless, and I’ll be waiting there in the middle of the ring to meet him,” said Leigh Wood about his belief that Mauricio Lara is vulnerable due to his fighting style.