"He wants Mauricio Lara" — Eddie Hearn on WBA world featherweight champion Leigh Wood's next bout

Eddie Hearn has revealed that he is in talks with Maurico Lara for a potential bout with Leigh Wood. The WBA world featherweight champion last scored a dramatic technical knockout victory over Michael Conlan.

Speaking at the Dalton Smith vs. Sam O’Maison weigh-in, Hearn said:

“Leigh Wood looks to be defending his championship at the end of September. I’ll say it: he wants and we are trying to make [the Mauricio Lara fight], which is the most, I mean, ballsy move. Leigh Wood turned around to me... and said ‘I fancy Maurico Lara.’ I mean, it is massive fight and like, fair play to him for even considering it... That’s a fight we are looking at at the moment.”

Wood faced Conlan in May, so naturally it makes sense for him to be competing again by the end of September. The Santa Cruz issue that Hearn is referring to is the WBA's mandate that the super featherweight champion, Leo Santa Cruz, must face the regular champion, Wood. Neither party seems particularly eager to take that fight next — Santa Cruz’ team have gone as far as to file an exemption in an attempt to make a fight with Rey Vargas instead.

Hearn and Matchroom Promotions, meanwhile, have disputed the purse-split that was ordered by the WBC, which is 75-25 in favor of Santa Cruz. As evidenced, Hearn is keen to explore other options for his fighter. Santa Cruz is also likely to be unwilling to fight in the United Kingdom, as he has shown reluctancy to do so in the past.

Hearn revealed his plan was for Wood to defend his title against Lara and then fight Josh Warrington in an all-British unification bout. Warrington is signed to Matchroom, so that fight would seemingly be fairly straightforward to make. As long as both fighters have world titles next year, expect that bout to happen.

---

Mauricio Lara is not an easy opponent for Leigh Wood

Until Mauricio Lara faced Josh Warrington, he was relatively unknown — before then Lara had fought only in low-profile bouts. ‘Bronco’, however, shocked the world when he handed Warrington his first career loss.

Lara started the fight well and looked to be in total control. The Mexican then dropped the Englishman in the fourth round and again in the ninth round before the bout was stopped. Warrington had previously defeated the likes of Lee Selby and Carl Frampton and was not expected to taste defeat.

Watch Lara stun Warrington below:

The pair had a rematch, which was stopped in the second round due to a cut that resulted from an accidental head clash. After that bout, Lara went on to face Emillio Sanchez in an exciting contest — Warrington, on the other hand, got the opportunity to fight for a world title against Kiko Martinez.