By Vince D’Writer: As humans, sometimes emotions can get the best of us, and if we allow ourselves to get caught up in the moment of a particular situation, we can do something that we’ll instantly regret, but WBA featherweight champion Mauricio Lara remains unapologetic in regards to spitting at his rival Josh Warrington.
Prior to the incident, Mauricio Lara was the challenger in the main event of the February 18th card that took place at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. Once again Lara traveled to the UK to participate in a premier matchup, but on this occasion, Lara would have the chance to leave with a victory and a world title.
While Josh Warrington was sitting ringside, Mauricio Lara would step inside the squared circle to face the defending WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood. In the opening round of the title bout, Wood quickly established landing the jab to the body.
During the second round of the bout, Lara landed hard shots to the body, and with twenty-six seconds left to go in the round, Lara came up top and connected with a hard right hand that wobbled the legs of Leigh Wood. At the midway point of round 4, Wood began to take control of the fight as he consistently landed the jab to the body, followed by the right hand over the top.
In the fifth round, Wood used the jab and the right hand to stay in control of the fight. Wood capped the round off by landing a body shot that had Lara visibly hurt. Breathing with his mouth open and steadily falling behind on the scorecards, things weren’t looking good for Mauricio Lara.
With twenty-three seconds left to go in round 7, the fight took a dramatic turn, as Lara landed a devastating left hand that sent Wood down to the canvas. Wood was able to get up, but he was standing on unstable legs.
The referee proceeded to give Wood the standing 8 count and then he made a request for Wood put his hands up. While Wood was trying to regain his composure, Lara was standing behind the referee, salivating for the opportunity to launch an attack on his wounded opponent.
With approximately 10 seconds remaining in the 7th round, Leigh Wood’s trainer Ben Davison threw in the towel, and the referee stepped in to put a halt to the contest. Lara stood in the middle of the ring, did a celebratory scream, walks to the ring ropes, and proceeded to yell and spit at Josh Warrington.
Warrington lunged forward towards the ring, but security quickly intervened. Mauricio Lara truly dislikes Josh Warrington, and during an interview shortly after the Wood-Lara bout, Warrington gave an answer in regards to why he thinks Lara dislikes him.
“He seems to have got this thing over the last few years that since the second fight, I disrespected his family, disrespected his dad and this, that, and the other.”
Back in February 2021, Lara defeated Warrington by way of 9th round TKO. Seven months later, they would meet again, as a clash of heads in the 2nd round opened up a bad cut over Lara’s left eye. Lara’s eye was examined by the ringside physician, and the bout was waived off and declared a technical draw.
After the post-fight incident that occurred on February 18th, Warrington feels that Lara should be punished for his actions. However, a week since the incident occurred no punishment has been issued, and Lara doesn’t seem to be concerned about the consequences nor apologetic in regards to what he did to Warrington.
Mauricio Lara (26-2-1, 19 KOs) admitted he spat at Josh Warrington, and he also stated his beef with Warrington is personal, and he wants to retire him. Since winning the WBA featherweight title, Lara plans on spending time with his family, and after that, he will decide who will be his next opponent.