Mauricio ‘Bronco’ Lara 25-2-1 (18) says he is coming in hot for his world title challenge against WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood 26-2 (16) at Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England on February 18.
Wood will be making the second defence of his title following his stunning come-from-behind 12th round knockout of Michael Conlan in March last year. That sensational finish won the Knockout of the Year award by the esteemed Ring magazine.
Mexican Lara, 24, scored a breakthrough win two years ago when he upset former world champion Josh Warrington, stopping him in nine frames. Their immediate rematch ended in a technical decision after an accidental clash of heads opened a cut over Lara’s left eye and brought about a premature end to the fight in the second round. Lara has won two fights since, both by third-round knockout.
For this fight Lara has been sparring with world class operators, including Emanuel ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete and Luis ‘Pantera’ Nery.
“I am not going to expect anything, I am going all in for everything from the first round. Wood punches harder than Warrington, but on February 18 we will see who has the biggest punch,” Lara said. “We have a plan A and a plan B because we don’t want to be surprised. We are well prepared.”
Lara is not concerned about fighting abroad with the possibility of the referee and judges being English.
“The fight will not reach a decision, I will win it by knockout,” he said.
Wood knows he is up against the odds, but says there is no place he would rather be.
“I prefer being an underdog and I love proving people wrong,” Wood said to BBC Sport last month. “People tweet me all the time and say, ‘this is a mismatch and I’m going to lose’ but if you look at my Twitter I retweet them because it fuels me.
“Winning fuels me. Lara has a style that suits me. Conlan was all wrong for me stylistically, but styles make fights and I’m confident in my ability. If I approach this fight wrong, it could be brutal.
“Lara is good and we saw that in the first fight with Josh Warrington, but if I do as I plan, this fight won’t reach halfway – I’m going to get Lara out of there.”
Wood’s confidence does not bother Lara.
“I like that my opponent talks, he will see that it is not good to talk, that it is not good to hallucinate,” Lara said. “I speak with my fists up in the ring. Wood is a great fighter but he is very talkative. Saying these things to me is his worst mistake. He will even need therapy to recover. I will be the worst nightmare of his life.
“I have confidence in myself because of my preparation and what we have worked for. What characterises me is aggressiveness, being a warrior inside the ring, but we have worked hard in the gym to have more weapons in the fight.”
