Mauricio Lara (23-2-1, 16 KOs) suffered a bad cut over his left eye from an accidental head-butt from former IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) in the second round, resulting in their fight being ruled a two round technical draw on Saturday night in their rematch at Headingly Stadium in Leeds, England.
The cut was bad enough where the ringside doctor chose to halt the fight rather than letting it continue. It was a huge letdown for the 20,000 boxing fans that had packed the stadium to see Warrington try and avenge the loss.
It wasn’t surprising that Lara was cut, as Warrington had clashed heads with him repeatedly from the first round. It almost appeared like he was intentionally lowering his head to nail Lara.
After the cut occurred in the second, Lara landed big shots on Warrington, and one got the sense that had the fight continued for much longer, he would have scored another knockout.
The promoters at Matchroom Boxing will need to decide whether they want to reschedule the Lara vs. Warrington fight. Lara knocked Warrington out in the ninth round last February. Maybe it’s a good time for Matchroom and Warrington to move on rather than risk another fight with Lara.
Undisputed female lightweight champion Katie Taylor (19-0, 6 KOs) won a lopsided ten round unanimous decision over Jennifer Han (18-4-1, 1 KO) The scores were 100-89 x 3.
There was a great deal of clinching, and not a lot of clean-landing shots. In the eighth round, Taylor was given credit for a questionable knockdown of Han.
Conor Benn (19-0, 12 KOs) looked powerful tonight in winning a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision over the defensive-minded Adrian Granados (21-9-3, 15 KOs).
Benn, 24, loaded up on everything he threw but was unable to connect often enough to seriously hurt the more experienced 32-year-old Granados.
The scores were:
Benn looked frustrated in the 10th round when Granados chose not to slug with him in the final moments of the fight.
Granados had to know that he was far behind and needed a knockout, yet he chose to play it safe in the final moments by backing off. Benn was giving Granados a chance to win, but he wasn’t willing to take the risk to go for the KO in the end.
After the fight, Benn wasn’t happy with how Granados fought, and he wasn’t him to trade to give the fans a good shot.
Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn said he’d like to put together a big fight for him in December. Adrien Broner was one of the names that was mentioned, but Hearn would like to match Benn against Amir Khan.
Maxi Hughes (24-5-1, 5 KOs) put in a career-best performance in defeating IBO lightweight champion Jovanni Staffon (24-4-1, 17KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision.
The scores: 120-107, 120-107, and 119-109. Staffon was in serious trouble in the fifth after getting clipped by a hard left hand from Hughes.
The fight was close to being stopped in the round, but somehow Staffon was able to make it through. Overall, it was a great performance from Hughes with his high-volume punch attack.
The exciting female bantamweight Ebanie Bridges 7-1, 3 KOs) had to battle hard to defeated Mailys Gangloff (5-3, 2 KOs) by a narrow eight round points decision.
The score was 77-76. Bridges fought well in the first half of the contest, but appearing to suffer a hand injury, she faded in the second half. Gangloff came on to make it close. Before Bridges faded, she was using her size and pressure to get the better of Gangloff.
In a great performance, super bantamweight prospect Hopey Price (6-0, 2 KOs) destroyed Zahid Hussain (16-2, 2 KOs) by a second round knockout.
Hussain was knocked down in rounds one and two from heavy right hands from Price. After the second knockdown, the fight was stopped. The time of the stoppage was at 2:33.
Unbeaten super bantamweight prospect Jack Bateson (14-0, 3 KOs) won a close six round decision over Felix Garcia (7-3-1, 3 KOs). The score was 58-56.
Junior middleweight Brandon Stansfield (2-0, 0 KOs) beat MJ Hall (2-63-2, 0 KOs) by a one-sided four round decision. The score was 40-36.
Light heavyweight prospect Mali Wright (1-0, 1 KOs) defeated Antony Woolery (2-7, 0 KOs) by a second round knockout in his pro debut. At the end of the second round, Woolery decided he’d had enough.
Female lightweight champion Katie Taylor defends against Jennifer Han in the co-feature bout on the card. Besides that, undefeated welterweight contender Conor Benn faces Adrian Granados in a 12 round fight that promises to be filled with action.
Lara (23-2, 16 KOs) is coming over from his home in Mexico to defeat former IBF featherweight champion Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) for a second time after handing his first career defeat courtesy of a ninth round knockout earlier this year on February 13th at the Wembley Arena in London, England.
It could be the end game for Warrington if he loses, as it would be a signal that he’s no longer good enough to mix it at the top.
How to Watch Lara vs Warrington 2?
The former IBF 126-lb champion Warrington, 30, and #4 IBF, #4 WBC Lara will be fighting tonight, September 4th live on DAZN at the Headingley Stadium in Leeds, England
Unfortunately, we don’t know how good Lara is because before fighting Warrington last February, he’d never fought anyone world-class. Lara has losses to mediocre second-tier fighters Eliot Chavez in 2018 [1st round knockout] and Julio Garabino in 2015 [4 round split decision].
Matchroom is hoping that Warrington can win this fight, and they’ll likely stick him in with IBF featherweight champion Kid Galahad in a rematch. If Josh loses to Lara again, Matchroom will need to figure out what to do with him
Warrington is too popular in Leeds for Eddie Hearn to cut loose from his promotional company, but obviously, his days of fighting for world titles could be over.
“We’re calling it ‘repeat or redeem,’ and it’s the same storyline,” said ring announcer David Diamante to BMBentertainment on the Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington 2 rematch tonight in Leeds.
“You got to give Josh Warrington a ton of credit for coming back and taking this fight. It’s the same kind of thing, and Eddie [Hearn] just alluded to it. It’s the same kind of thing as when Joshua lost to Andy Ruiz Jr.
“That week in Wembley, Warrington was kind of at the top of the world and he was doing really, really well. Lara, he was the underdog, coming from Mexico City. People that know know that when you’re fighting at altitude, those fighters, their lungs are different.
What is the start time for Lara vs. Warrington 2?
The start time for the Lara vs. Warrington II card is at 2:00 pm ET, and 7:00 p.m. in the UK.
The approximate time for Lara – Warrington to meet for the main event is 5:00 p.m. ET. That obviously will depend on the duration of the undercard fights
“Obviously, they’re very tough, but they have a different set of lungs,” Diamante said about Mauricio Lara.” They’re strong. Lara came in and did the business and he did it in very impressive fashion. It’s a really interesting fight.
“I don’t think Warrington can hurt Lara, as far as stopping him, but I can definitely see him getting a points victory. But I could see a repeat also with Lara stopping Warrington. That could happen again. It’s going to be hard to keep Lara off.
“He’s [Warrington] going to have to use the ring and use his legs and he’s going to have to box and he’s going to have to try and get his respect.
“Sometimes when a guy wins a fight and wins a title, they get better,” Diamante said about Lara. “They know they belong. Mauricio Lara, he’s coming into this fight with a lot of confidence.”
Other fights on tonight’s card:
- Conor Benn vs. Adrian Granados
- Ebanie Bridges vs. Mailys Gangloff
- Jack Bateson vs. Felix Garcia
- Brandon Stansfield vs. MJ Hall
- Mali Wright vs. Antony Woolery
- Jovanni Staffon vs. Maxi Hughes
