Fight week: Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara stand out on busy weekend

news7g02/14/2023

1 3 minutes read

BATTLE WEEK

Featherweight titleholder Leigh Wood, after Michael Conlan’s sensational KO, will face Maurico Lara on Saturday in the UK.

Also on the card: Misael Lopez vs. Edward Vazquez, junior lightweight
Guess: Holmes University
Background: Two junior American middleweight prospects will risk their impeccable track record against each other in a main event on “ShoBox: The New Generation”. Holmes, the 2016 Olympic reserve athlete, was about to make a unanimous decision on Vernon Brown in his first 10 innings on ShoBox last March. The product of Flint, Michigan, is an unusually tall (6 foot-2) southbound with great skills honed during his successful amateur career, which is why he’s looks towering. The last time Villarreal aggressively fought was in July, when he stopped LeShawn Rodriguez after six rounds. It was the Bronx native’s fifth straight knockout. He is much shorter than Holmes (5 foot 8) but he also has a good amateur career, meaning he has a solid skill set to go with his punch power.

Also on the card: Dalton Smith vs Billy Allington, junior welterweight; Gary Cully vs. Wilfredo Flores, lightweight; Cheavon Clarke vs Dec Spelman, cruiser class; Gamal Yafai vs Diego Alberto Ruiz, junior featherweight
Guess: Lara KO 9
Background: One of the hottest boxers from the UK will face off against a Mexican boxer with a history of foiling the British plans. Wood is coming to Battle of the Year 2022, in which he gets up from a knockdown in the first round to knock out rival Michael Conlan over the rope and out in the final round last March. The boxer, who will fight at home, has won three straight fights since he lost to James Dickens by majority decision in 2020. That number includes 12.^order-Can Xu stops in the ring to win the title in 2021. Lara, 24 from Mexico City, stunned UK fans when he take down then-rising star Josh Warrington in the ninth round in London in 2021. The rematch later that year ended in two halves technical drawing after Lara cut her arm and couldn’t continue. Lara then knocked out both Emilio Sanchez and Jose Sammartin in three rounds for another shot at Britain’s top boxer.

Also on the card: Shane Mosley Jr. against Mario Lozano, super middleweight
Guess: Hovhannisyan KO 10
Background: Young featherweight competitors Nery and Hovhannisyan bring their offensive demeanor and impressive punch power into this main event. Nery, a former two-tournament champion from Mexico, is still rebuilding after a difficult period in 2021 and last year, when he stopped by a bigger, stronger Brandon Figueroa for seven rounds in a 122-pound belt unification and then defeated Carlos Castro with an unconvincing split. He was about to knock out David Carmona in the third round in an intense, 130-pound bout last October. Hovhannisyan, an Armenian living in Los Angeles, has won seven straight games since he lost a unanimous decision to then-122-pound belt holder Rey Vargas in 2018 and has rarely failed to win the tournament. mind for fans. He last fought last April, when he knocked out Dagoberto Aguero in two innings on the Ryan Garcia-Emmanuel Tagoe card.

FIGHT THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

SATURDAY

Felix Sturm vs Sukru Altay, super middleweight, Stuttgart, Germany (DAZN).
Mike Ohan Jr. against Daniel Sostre, welterweight, Melrose, Massachusetts (BXNGTV).