Josh Warrington vs. Mauricio Lara 2 Preview

On February 13th, 2021, then-unbeaten UK featherweight star Josh Warrington took on unknown 22-year-old Mexican prospect Mauricio Lara at the SSE Arena in London. Warrington was coming off a year and a half layoff and a successful title defense against Sofianae Takoucht. Many expected him to make quick work of the unseasoned Lara, who was only fighting outside his country for the second time ever.

Multiple sportsbooks listed on2 had Warrington as a heavy odds-on favorite to win the bout, considering that a Mara win would be a massive upset, giving him eleven to one odds.

Per his camp, Warrington, disappointed that he did not get his unification fight against WBA titleholder Xu Can, took the Mexican boxer lightly. He came in confident, starting slowly, hoping to pick up steam as time went on and as Lara got tired. However, the Mexican landed a left hook that hurt Warrington in the fourth round, and the Brit never recovered from that knockdown. His legs remained shaky for the remainder of the fight, allowing Lara to land multiple effective combinations as the rounds progressed before ultimately getting knocked out in the ninth out of the twelve scheduled sections of the contest.

Now, on September 4th, the two boxers will again meet, at the Emerald Headingley Stadium in Leeds, Warrington’s hometown, in an eagerly awaited rematch.

Can Lara Shock the World Again?
Mauricio Lara is a Mexico City boxer born in 1998.

Nicknamed the Bronco, he boasts a 68% knockout-to-win ratio, and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board considers him the second-best active featherweight. Lara only had one loss on his record dating back to May of 2018, a first-round KO at the hands of Eliot Chavez. From then on, Lara went on an impressive eleven-fight win streak, with eight wins coming via knockout. Despite his dominant performance last time around, many experts remain doubtful that he can repeat the feat come September 4th.

Warrington is confident, claiming that he beats Lara 99 times out of 100 and that the last fight was merely a fluke. Experts believe that there are many different elements in play from this rematch. First is both boxers’ mental states. Josh must rebound from hitting rock bottom, while Lara must not get shaken by the pressure of repeating his last fight. Most think that the rematch will test Warrington’s IQ but that Mauricio’s resilience and power can keep him a live dog. Still, the predominant prediction here is Warrington by unanimous decision.

Who Is the Betting Favorite?
Virtually all sports betting sites have Warrington as the favorite at -164, giving him a win probability of 62.12% of avenging his loss, with the odds on a Lara win being +128. That is a more than sizeable improvement compared to the eleven to one live body/filler he was in their first fight.

Ring walks for the main event should happen at 10 PM UK time, but, of course, that will depend on how the undercard plays out. Same as the last time, no titles are on the line.