Leigh Wood (27-3, 16 KO) got his revenge on Mauricio Lara (26-3-1, 19 KO) earlier today (Sat., May 27, 2023) live on DAZN from Manchester, England, as the English fighter outlasted the former WBA featherweight champion with a unanimous decision win. As a result, Wood walks away with the vacant title after Lara was stripped Friday following a botched weigh in.
Wood, who was fighting at home once again, had suffered a brutal TKO loss to Lara this past February to lose the WBA featherweight title. He had won it off Michael Conlan back in Mar. 2022 with a 12th-round TKO. Lara was favored to win Saturday’s rematch.
While Lara had his moments in this fight to keep the rowdy Manchester crowd honest it was Wood who scored the bigger shots. He leveled Lara with a crisp right uppercut in the early frames that set the pace for the entire fight. In the end, it was Wood who did more than enough on the scorecards to get his revenge on Lara in the rematch and walk away with the WBA featherweight strap.
If a trilogy between the two fighters doesn’t come to fruition then maybe Wood will take on reigning IBF featherweight champion, Luis Alberto Lopez, who demolished Conlan with a fifth-round TKO earlier today (see HERE).
Check out the video highlights below:
For more ‘Lara vs. Wood 2’ results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
