Mauricio Lara will receive his first major title shot next weekend as he takes on WBA featherweight title holder Leigh Wood. It will be the toughest test yet for Lara (25-2-1 with 18 knockouts), as he must walk into the lion’s den for this fight since Wood (26-2 with 16 knockouts) is a native of Nottingham. Regardless, Lara is a moderate favorite per the boxing betting odds.
Originally, Lara and Wood were set to meet on September 24, 2022. However, Wood was forced to back out of the fight after tearing his biceps in training a little more than a week before the showdown. That pushed this fight back to Saturday, February 18, 2023, but it will still take place in Wood’s backyard at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. This event will be available on DAZN with the main card starting at 2 p.m. ET, and the title fight expected to get underway around 5 p.m. ET.
When: Saturday, February 18, 2023
Where: Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
Why: WBA featherweight championship
Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara Betting Odds
Leigh Wood +207
Mauricio Lara -270
Although Leigh Wood has been the WBA featherweight title holder for the last 18 months, he is a sizeable underdog per the boxing betting line here. If you are unfamiliar with betting on boxing, you would need to bet $270 on the challenger Lara to win $100 at this price. Meanwhile, a $100 bet on Wood would return a $207 profit if he made his second straight title defense.
As the fight nears, there will be decision betting too. You will be able to bet on whether the fight is decided by KO, TKO, or decision, and you can bet on which boxer will win the fight in that fashion as well.
Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara Preview
Leigh Wood was relatively unheralded at the start of his professional career. Wood didn’t do much to make himself standout either as six of his first eight victories were the result of him winning on points. Still, he kept winning, and that allowed him to challenge Gavin McDonnell for the British super bantamweight title in February 2014.
Wood looked set to move to 12-0 as he surprisingly won each of the first five rounds against McDonnell. However, he wore himself out and was knocked out in the sixth round, halting his progression and knocking him down a couple rungs on the ladder. To his credit, Wood was dominant in his next four fights, knocking out each of his opponents to show that he deserved another shot.
He went on to win the Commonwealth featherweight belt and claimed the WBO European featherweight title with a ninth round TKO of David Oliver Joyce. However, Wood lost the title to Jazza Dickens in his next fight, losing a very narrow majority decision.
A ninth round TKO victory over Reece Mould two years ago earned Wood a shot at the WBA featherweight belt, and he ended up pulling off an upset victory over Xu Can despite being a significant underdog by the boxing betting odds. Wood was very fortunate in his first title defense last March though, as he trailed Michael Conlan on the scorecards of all three judges and needed a knockout to defend the belt. Midway through the round, Wood dramatically dropped Conlan, leading to his opponent falling through the ropes and out of the ring to defend the title.
Mauricio Lara is one of the rare professional boxers that lost his first fight. Lara lost a split decision the first time he entered the ring, so he didn’t get the benefit of building up his record with a 0 next to his name. He won 11 straight fights after that initial defeat, but he was knocked out in the first round by Eliot Chavez to again sidetrack his career. That led to Lara having to build up his record once more, and he won 11 straight bouts again before facing a real opponent.
Lara made the most out of the opportunity this time, stunning former IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington despite being a 10-1 underdog by the boxing betting line. Lara secured a ninth round TKO against Warrington, setting up a rematch with the former champion seven months later. Unfortunately, this bout had to be stopped in the second round after Lara suffered a nasty cut from a head clash.
The tale of the tape shows that these two fighters are dead even. Both Wood and Lara are 5’7 with a 67-inch reach, so there will be significant action on the current champion. Lara seems to have turned the corner though, so he is our pick.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
Check out the latest odds at BookMaker
