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Mauricio Lara vs Leigh Wood Predictions & Tips – Lara To Stop Wood In World Title Rematch

By Leigh Copson

23 May 2023

Leigh Copson 23 May 2023

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Mauricio Lara vs Leigh Wood tips for Saturday, May 27
World title fight to take place at the AO Arena in Manchester, England
Can Wood regain featherweight title from Lara?

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Mauricio Lara (Getty Images)

Mauricio Lara vs Leigh Wood Predictions & Tips

Mauricio Lara vs Leigh Wood Predictions & Tips
Head To Head
Mauricio Lara Form
Leigh Wood Form

Mauricio Lara vs Leigh Wood Predictions & Tips

Mauricio Lara is tipped to retain his world title in this rematch.

Lara repeatedly hurt Leigh Wood in the first fight and that power eventually proved to be too much.

Wood will not go quickly or quietly, but Lara is backed to take him out in the second half of the fight.

19 of Lara’s 26 professional wins have come by KO/TKO
12 of Lara’s 13 fights have not gone the distance
Mauricio Lara knocked out Leigh Wood in Round 7 in February
Leigh Wood has been knocked out 2 times in his career

Head To Head

Mauricio Lara won by 7th round TKO when the pair last met on February 18

Mauricio Lara Form

Mauricio Lara is the WBA featherweight champion with a professional record of 26-2-1 (19 KOs).

Lara last lost back in May 2018 when he suffered a surprise first-round knockout to Eliot Chavez.

He responded to that setback in fine style though, reeling off a 12-fight win streak that culminated with him upsetting Josh Warrington in February 2021.

The 25-year-old Mexican travelled to London for the first time and knocked out Warrington in the seventh round.

The rematch ended in a technical draw when Lara sustained a nasty cut from an accidental clash of heads in the second round.

Lara go back to winning ways in his next outing when he took out Emilio Sanchez in the third round, and he then knocked out Jose Sanmartin in the third to land a world title shot.

He again travelled to England for the biggest fight of his career, and he returned home as a world champion after knocking out Leigh Wood in Round 7.

Leigh Wood Form

Leigh Wood is a former WBA featherweight champion with a professional record of 26-3 (16 KOs).

Wood has spent much of his career fighting on the domestic and European scenes, winning British, Commonwealth and European titles.

Any hopes he had of attaining world championship status looked to have been erased when he lost a majority decision to Jazza Dickens in February 2020.

He bounced back in his next outing by stopping Reece Mould in the ninth round to win the British title, and then became WBA (Regular) champion when he knocked out Xu Can in the 12th.

Wood made a successful first defence of the belt when he overcame a first-round knockdown to stop Michael Conlan in the final round, and he was later upgraded to full WBA champion.

However, in his first defence he was knocked out by Mauricio Lara, his opponent on Saturday night.

Verdict

Mauricio Lara v Leigh Wood

Mauricio Lara’s punching power was too much for Leigh Wood in the first meeting.

That is likely to be the case again in the rematch, as Lara retains in the second half of the contest.

Lara by KO/TKO

Method of Victory

@8/15 - 4 Units

Bet £10 Get £30

with bonus code NEWBONUS

Available to new customers only. Make a qualifying deposit of £5 or more and claim the offer within 30 days of registering your account to qualify for 300% of that amount in Bet Credits, up to a maximum of £30 in Bet Credits. Once released, your Bet Credits will be held in your account balance and are non-withdrawable. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.

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Lara In Rounds 6-12

Round Group Betting

@7/4 - 2 Units

Bet £10 Get £30

with bonus code NEWBONUS

Available to new customers only. Make a qualifying deposit of £5 or more and claim the offer within 30 days of registering your account to qualify for 300% of that amount in Bet Credits, up to a maximum of £30 in Bet Credits. Once released, your Bet Credits will be held in your account balance and are non-withdrawable. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.

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Lara in Rounds 7-9

Round Group Betting

@3/1 - 1 Unit

Bet £10 Get £30

with bonus code NEWBONUS

Available to new customers only. Make a qualifying deposit of £5 or more and claim the offer within 30 days of registering your account to qualify for 300% of that amount in Bet Credits, up to a maximum of £30 in Bet Credits. Once released, your Bet Credits will be held in your account balance and are non-withdrawable. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.

Bet at bet365