Josh Warrington’s army of fans are still trying to come to terms with the massive upset defeat that befell their hero on Saturday night when the warrior from Leeds was brutally beaten by Mexico’s Mauricio Lara.
Warrington, who lost his unbeaten record and is now 30-1(7), has thanked fans for their support, and the former IBF featherweight champion who never lost his belt in the ring (instead opting to vacate the strap) has promised he will bounce back.
There is a rematch clause in place, so a Lara-Warrington II is likely. First, though, Warrington needs a good rest, and he must allow his damaged jaw to heal. It remains to be seen whether or not 22-year-old Lara, 22-2(15), will fight someone else in his next outing or if he will await the rematch with the 30-year-old; he is so shockingly upset.
In terms of how big Saturday night’s upset was, promoter Eddie Hearn says the shocker was bigger than the one Andy Ruiz Jr, another fighter of Mexican descent, pulled off when he wrecked Anthony Joshua in June of 2018. Speaking with IFL TV, Hearn said the upset Lara scored was off the charts as he was not ranked as a world-class featherweight.
“This is a much bigger shock because Andy Ruiz is a world-class heavyweight,” Hearn stated. “Mauricio Lara was not really renowned as a world-class featherweight. You know, a fringe guy who can pop a bit, might have the ability, young kid. But he arrived on the world stage. And you know, devastated as I am, congratulations to him.”
Hearn suggested we might see the rematch later on this year. So how was it for you, was the Lara KO a bigger shock to your system than Ruiz’ stoppage win over AJ? To me, though it took Lara a good deal longer, the win he scored on Saturday reminded me of Breidis Prescott’s stunning win over Amir Khan. The Colombian was something like a 30/1 underdog, as was Lara, and he was almost completely unknown, yet he changed his life during the course of one night, or in 54-seconds.
As fans know, Prescott and Khan never had a rematch, and Prescott never managed to build on his big win, his career going on to suffer 18 defeats. Can Lara go on and become a champion? Can Lara use the Warrington win as a springboard to even greater things?
