A short time ago, Josh Warrington was an undefeated boxer looking forward to a megafight with then WBA champion Xu Can. When the fight with Xu fell through, Mauricio Lara stepped in as a February 2021 substitute. The “stay busy” fight ended in a devastating loss for Warrington.
Warrington will get another chance against Lara Saturday night when the two square off at Headingly. The former IBF world featherweight champion had to revisit the worst night of his career to prepare for the rematch.
Josh Warrington says he felt flat during his ring walk. The first fight took place in an empty Wembley Arena due to the Covid lockdowns. “Normally, I´m looking at people´s faces and meeting their eyes as adrenaline rushes through me,” Warrington remembers the moments before his first professional loss. “I climbed through the ropes thinking, let´s just get this done.”
Warrington says he thought the fight would be easy when he landed an early right hand. “I was a bit too arrogant and relaxed, and that isn´t normally me.”
Mauricio Lara took advantage of Warrington´s low hand position. He began to land big punches of his own. Lara scored a knockdown in the fourth round.
Mauricio Lara ended the fight with a TKO victory in the ninth round. Warrington suffered a concussion, a jaw fracture, and a busted eardrum.
Mauricio Lara is now 23-2 with 16 knockouts as a professional. The unexpected victory thrust the previously unheralded Mexican boxer into the global spotlight.
Boxing insiders talk of the risk Warrington is taking by fighting Lara so soon again after incurring serious injuries. But Warrington is confident that he has what it takes to avenge his only loss as a professional boxer.
“I know how important this fight is for me,” Warrington explains. “It is going to be very different for me this time around.”