By Barry Holbrook: Eddie Hearn has revealed that his fighter WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood has a rematch clause for his voluntary defense against Mauricio Lara this Saturday night, and he could elect to exercise immediately or delay triggering it until later to allow the Mexican knockout artist to face Joshua Warrington in a mouth-watering trilogy fight.
Hearn believes that if Wood (26-2, 16 KOs) were to lose his WBA title to Lara (25-2-1, 18 KOs), he’ll choose to exercise the rematch clause right away rather than putting it off, but that’s something obviously that he doesn’t want to contemplate.
Leigh shouldn’t exercise rematch clause
It would be prudent for Wood to let him clear his head and let Warrington face Lara first before he exercises the rematch clause because we’ve seen what happens to conquered fighters historically when they run headfirst into a second fight after they get smashed to bits.
Unfortunately for Wood, there’s an excellent chance that he’s going to get destroyed by Lara on Saturday night, and there’s not much he can do about trying to avoid that from happening.
The only question is, does Wood recklessly exercise the rematch clause, reacting to his wounded pride, or does he think carefully and make a smart decision by giving it some time before taking the second fight against Lara? Pride never helps. It can only hurt, which is why Wood should let Warrington clean up his mess by facing Lara in the trilogy match, and hope that Josh can fight out of his skin and control his roughhouse instincts.
To be sure, it would be a massive disappointment for the 34-year-old Wood obviously because he’s been waiting years & years for a fight against Warrington in Nottingham or Leeds, and that dream could be snatched away from him if he were to succumb to the powerful fists of Lara this Saturday night.
Boxing is a young man’s sport, and it wouldn’t be a massive shock if the young 24-year-old Mexican warrior Lara were to blast Wood to smithereens in front of his fans in Nottingham, one of which will likely be his hometown hero Carl Froch.
Wood vs. Lara fight for featherweight supremacy
“We should really respect Leigh Wood and support him, and we should get ready for a great night,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social. “It’s my job to sell a show. Sometimes I sell great shows; sometimes, I sell good shows; and sometimes, I sell average shows.
“When I sell great shows, do you know how easy it is to do my job? I can get up there and talk with passion about how good this fight is. For me, this is for the #1 spot in the [featherweight] division; I really believe that” continued Hearn about the Wood vs. Lara fight.
“Leigh Wood has been the underdog against Can Xu, he’s been the underdog against Michael Conlan, and now he’s the underdog again. Nearly 3-to-1 in his hometown in a voluntary defense. It’s mental, but this guy Lara is dangerous.
“There are still some unanswered questions about Mauricio Lara, and Leigh & [trainer] Ben Davison believes that. Let’s see if they’re right,” said Hearn.
Leigh has rematch clause
“Yes, there is [a rematch clause]. In a fight like this, sometimes that rematch will happen straightaway, sometimes that will happen after,” said Hearn when asked if there’s a rematch clause for this Saturday’s Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara fight.
“If Leigh was to lose, he could exercise that rematch clause, or he can let Lara box Josh Warrington and fight the winner. There are lots of things that can happen, but he’s not looking at that. He doesn’t want to exercise any clause. He wants to get the fight.
“For Josh Warrington, he’s thinking about the trilogy for Lara or a massive British fight with Leigh Wood, but he’s no longer the champ. So he’s got to hope they choose him [Warrington], and we would like to help him make that fight,” said Hearn.