Mauricio Lara vs. Leigh Wood II stand out on busy weekend

FIGHT WEEK

Mauricio Lara will defend her 126-pound title against Leigh Wood on Saturday in their February rematch, which Lara won by KO. Luis Alberto Lopez versus Michael Conlan and Alexis Rocha versus Anthony Young are also being exploited.

MAURICIO LARA (26-2-1, 19 KOS)
WITH. WOODEN LEIGH (26-3, 16 KOS)

• When: Saturday, May 27
• Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event follows)
• Where: AO Arena, Manchester, England
• television/stream: DAZN
• Assignment: Featherweight (126 pounds)
• threatened: Lara .’s WBA title
• Pound-for-pound ratings: Do not have
• the odds: Lara 2½-1 favorite (multi-store average)
• Also on the card: Jack Catterall vs. Darragh Foley, junior weight class; Terri Harper versus Ivana Habazin, junior middleweight (for Harper’s WBA title); Danny Ball vs. Jamie Robinson, welterweight
• Guess: Lara KO 5
• Background: Lara became a British assassin. The 25-year-old Mexican tennis player knocked out Josh Warrington in 2021 in London to explode in the boxing arena, then the two technically fought when Lara suffered a severe slash. That led to Wood’s title stripping in February, when Lara wooden stop With a monstrous left hook in the seventh round of the match, the loser is winning cards. Wood gets a second chance on Saturday. The 34-year-old from Nottingham had the performance of his career last March, sending Michael Conlan over the ropes for a spectacular strike. twelfth^{lame pants}-Role Qualifiers to protect his waist. And he played well against Lara even though he was eliminated in the opening round. However, a left hook to Wood’s chin knocked him down and left him severely injured. He was able to get up on unsteady legs but his coach threw the towel in.

LUIS ALBERTO LOPEZ (27-2, 15 KOS)
WITH. MICHAEL CONLAN (18-1, 9 KOS)

• When: Saturday, May 27
• Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event follows)
• Where: SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
• television/stream: GAME+
• Assignment: Featherweight (126 pounds)
• threatened: Lopez’s IBF title
• Pound-for-pound ratings: Do not have
• the odds: Even (average of multiple stores)
• Also on the card: Anthony Cacace versus Damian Wrzesinski, junior lightweight; Nick Ball vs. Ludumo Lamati, featherweight; Pierce O’Leary vs Alin Florin Ciorceri, junior weight class
• Guess: López SD
• Background: Lopez is about to have a breakout win, despite a late Josh Warrington rally to win majority decision and his first major title last December in the UK. The 29-year-old Mexican boxer has won 10 straight fights (seven by knockout) since he was beaten by Ruben Villa in May 2019. Conlan, a 31-year-old Irish boxer, came back. after a knockout loss to Leigh Wood last March by overtaking Miguel Marriaga in August and blocking Karim Guerfi ​​in the first round in December. 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and Olympic runner up Assembly 2016 is a polished boxer but has yet to establish himself as a top-tier champion.

ALEXIS ROCHA (22-1, 14 KOS)
WITH. ANTHONY CHILDREN (24-2, 8 KOS)

• When: Saturday, May 27
• Time: 8pm ET / 5pm PT (main event after that)
• Where: Fantasy Springs, Indio, California
• television/stream: DAZN
• Assignment: Middleweight (147 pounds)
• threatened: No main title
• Pound-for-pound ratings: Do not have
• the odds: ARE NOT
• Also on the card: Melvin Jerusalem vs Oscar Collazo, strawweight (for Jerusalem’s WBO belt); Oscar Duarte vs. D’Angelo Keyes, lightweight; John Ramirez vs Fernando Diaz, bantamweights
• Guess: University of Rocha
• Background: Rocha has established herself as a legit competitor in the 147-pound weight class having won seven straight games since being overtaken by slick Rashidi Ellis in October 2020. The 25-year-old from the Los Angeles area ranked #1 by the WBO, below sole champion and weightlifter Terence Crawford. Young is a skilled technician from Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 35-year-old hasn’t lost a match since 2016. His biggest win was knocking out former 154-pound champion Sadam Ali in the third round in May 2019, Ali’s last match. Rocha will be his toughest opponent since that match. Young was ranked 8th by the WBO.

FIGHT THIS WEEK

FRIDAY

• Kevin Hayler Brown vs Julian Smith, junior weight class, Orlando, Florida (DAZN)

SATURDAY

• Lawrence Okolie vs Chris Billam-Smith, cruiser class (for Okolie’s WBO title), Bournemouth, UK (no TV in the US)
• Sukhdeep Singh Bhatti vs. Sagar Narwat, junior middleweight, Brampton, Canada (DAZN)
• Lani Daniels versus Alrie Meleisea, heavyweights (for the vacant IBF title), North Shore, New Zealand (FITE)