Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara fight prediction, odds, undercard, preview, start time, how to watch

2023 has been a hot start for boxing when it comes to exciting fights. This trend may well continue on Saturday afternoon when Lee Wood defends his WBA featherweight title against Mauricio Lara.DAZN 2pm ET).

Wood and Lara were originally scheduled to fight on September 24, but Wood was forced to pull out of the fight due to a torn bicep.

“Wood is a chicken. He couldn’t prove his injury from last year’s fight, he just didn’t want to fight.” Lara said after a recent sparring match.. “But now, I think this is his opportunity to prove himself against me. I’m in the best part of my career right now, so he’ll need to bring something special to beat me. This time he has no choice.” “

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Lara wasn’t too worried about going to Nottingham, England to fight the champion in his backyard. There will surely be a wild crowd to support Wood as he defends his world title for the first time since a dramatic knockout of the year victory over Michael Conlan in March 2022.

Conlan was firmly in control of the action against Wood from a jump, including a knockdown in the first round. However, Wood continued to fight back and dropped Conlan in the 11th round before knocking him out of the ring in the final round for a major upset victory.

Lara also fielded a KO of the Year contender in his last fight. His March battle with Emilio Sanchez lasted only three rounds, but almost every second was a brawl.

Despite Sanchez looking tired and hurt from the body attack by the end of the third round, Lara unleashed a vicious combo that sent Sanchez back into the corner and ended the fight in an instant.

When the original Wood fight date fell through, Lara got another knockout in the third round when he defeated José Sanmartin in October.

Lara is also no stranger to driving from Mexico to England to ruin a local boy’s evening. In February 2021, Lara traveled to London as a big underdog against Josh Warrington, only to win via TKO in the ninth round. The pair fought a rematch in September of that year, again in London, only to clash heads, resulting in a technical draw after only two rounds.

Wood vs Lara battle card odds

Odds via bookmaker Caesars

Darling	outsider	Weight category
Mauricio Lara -240	Lee Wood (c) +200	WBA featherweight title
Dalton Smith -4000	Billy Allington +1500	Super light
Gary Callie -1400	Wilfredo Flores +800	Easy

Forecast

This fight promises to be a full blown brawl between two tough fighters with solid power and fan-friendly style. Despite the same number of fights, Lara is 10 years younger than Wood. Lara doesn’t rely much on athleticism and not much on hand speed, so the age difference is hardly a determining factor.

What could very well be the deciding factor is Lara’s strength and Wood’s ability to land accurate shots. Conlan failed to do his job when he hurt Wood early, but Lara is unlikely to let Wood off the hook if he shakes him up early. Similarly, Sanchez revealed that Lara may have some body vulnerabilities during their short war.

It’s a combination of skill, guts and vulnerabilities that should make for a great fight on Saturday night. Lara’s strength and face-to-face fighting style should be enough to win once he landed a few accurate Voodoo chin strikes. Pick: Mauricio Lara via KO5