FIGHT WEEK

Mauricio Lara will defend his 126-pound title against Leigh Wood on Saturday in a rematch of their February bout, which Lara won by KO. Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Michael Conlan and Alexis Rocha vs. Anthony Young also are on tap.

MAURICIO LARA (26-2-1, 19 KOS)
VS. LEIGH WOOD (26-3, 16 KOS)

• When: Saturday, May 27

• Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event later in show)

• Where: AO Arena, Manchester, England

• TV/Stream: DAZN

• Division: Featherweight (126 pounds)

• At stake: Lara’s WBA title

• Pound-for-pound ranking: None

• Odds: Lara 2½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)

• Also on the card: Jack Catterall vs. Darragh Foley, junior welterweights; Terri Harper vs. Ivana Habazin, junior middleweights (for Harper’s WBA title); Danny Ball vs. Jamie Robinson, welterweights

• Prediction: Lara KO 5

• Background: Lara has become a Brit killer. The 25-year-old Mexican knocked out Josh Warrington in 2021 in London to burst upon the boxing scene, after which the two fought to technical draw when Lara suffered a bad cut. That led to a shot at Wood’s title in February, when Lara stopped Wood with a monstrous left hook in the seventh round of a fight the loser was winning on the cards. Wood gets a second chance on Saturday. The 34-year-old from Nottingham delivered the performance of his career in March of last year, putting Michael Conlan through the ropes for a spectacular 12^th-round knockout in defense of his belt. And he did well against Lara even though he was cut in the opening round. However, a left hook to Wood’s chin put him down and hurt him badly. He was able to get up on unsteady legs but his trainer threw in the towel.

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

• When: Saturday, May 27

• Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event later in show)

• Where: SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland

• TV/Stream: ESPN+

• Division: Featherweight (126 pounds)

• At stake: Lopez’s IBF title

• Pound-for-pound ranking: None

• Odds: Even (average of multiple outlets)

• Also on the card: Anthony Cacace vs. Damian Wrzesinski, junior lightweights; Nick Ball vs. Ludumo Lamati, featherweights; Pierce O’Leary vs. Alin Florin Ciorceri, junior welterweights

• Prediction: Lopez SD

• Background: Lopez is coming off a break-through victory, withstanding a late rally by Josh Warrington to win a majority decision and his first major title last December in England. The 29-year-old Mexican, a skillful boxer-puncher, has won 10 consecutive fights (seven by knockout) since he was outpointed by Ruben Villa in May 2019. Conlan, a 31-year-old Irishman, bounced back from his knockout loss to Leigh Wood in March of last year by outpointing Miguel Marriaga in August and stopping Karim Guerfi in the first round in December. The 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and a participant in the 2016 Games is a polished boxer but has yet to establish himself as a top-tier champion.

ALEXIS ROCHA (22-1, 14 KOS)
VS. ANTHONY YOUNG (24-2, 8 KOS)

• When: Saturday, May 27

• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)

• Where: Fantasy Springs, Indio, California

• TV/Stream: DAZN

• Division: Welterweight (147 pounds)

• At stake: No major titles

• Pound-for-pound ranking: None

• Odds: NA

• Also on the card: Melvin Jerusalem vs. Oscar Collazo, strawweights (for Jerusalem’s WBO title); Oscar Duarte vs. D’Angelo Keyes, lightweights; John Ramirez vs. Fernando Diaz, junior bantamweights

• Prediction: Rocha UD

• Background: Rocha has established himself as a legitimate 147-pound contender by winning seven consecutive fights since he was outpointed by slick Rashidi Ellis in October 2020. The 25-year-old from the Los Angeles area is ranked No. 1 by the WBO, below only champion and pound-for-pounder Terence Crawford. Young is a skillful technician from Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 35-year-old hasn’t lost a fight since 2016. His biggest victory was a third-round knockout of former 154-pound titleholder Sadam Ali in May 2019, Ali’s last fight. Rocha will be his toughest opponent since that fight. Young is ranked No. 8 by the WBO.

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

FRIDAY

• Kevin Hayler Brown vs. Julian Smith, junior welterweights, Orlando, Florida (DAZN)

SATURDAY

• Lawrence Okolie vs. Chris Billam-Smith, cruiserweights (for Okolie’s WBO title), Bournemouth, England (no TV in U.S.)

• Sukhdeep Singh Bhatti vs. Sagar Narwat, junior middleweights, Brampton, Canada (DAZN)

• Lani Daniels vs. Alrie Meleisea, heavyweights (for vacant IBF title), North Shore, New Zealand (FITE)

Related

Mauricio Lara stops Leigh Wood with monster left hook to win title

Story originally appeared on Boxing Junkie