Leigh Wooden is ready to ‘Dance with the Satan’ in entrance of his hometown crowd.
The reigning WBA featherweight titlist brimmed with confidence as he soaked within the cheers from the raucous crowd throughout Friday’s weigh-in at Motorpoint Enviornment in Nottingham, England. The identical venue will host Saturday’s DAZN present, headlined by Wooden’s scheduled twelve-round conflict with visiting challenger Mauricio Lara.
Wooden tipped the official British Boxing Board of Management scale on the featherweight restrict of 126 kilos for his first protection since he was upgraded to full WBA titlist from his earlier WBA ‘Common’ featherweight title reign. Mexico Metropolis’s Lara (25-2-1, 18KOs) was additionally 126 kilos, placing to relaxation any concern that the first-time title challenger was struggling to make weight.
An intense on-stage staredown adopted, together with a quick shove as each boxers jockeyed for place in entrance of the cameras. The minor skirmish was shortly subtle, as each will save their vitality for Saturday.
“Knockout,” Lara vowed to host David Diamante when prompted for a prediction. “Primary, new champion!”
Naturally, the native hero has a unique viewpoint.
“Sing once more as loud as you possibly can Saturday evening,” Wooden demanded. “Carry the noise, let’s do that!”
The bout comes 49 weeks after Wooden’s unforgettable thriller with Belfast’s Michael Conlan. Wooden (26-2, 16KOs) overcame a gap spherical knockdown and a scorecard deficit to ground Conlan late in spherical eleven and ship him by means of the ropes and out of the ring halfway by means of the twelfth and closing spherical of what was acknowledged by BoxingScene.com because the 2022 Battle of the Yr.
Lara is unbeaten in his final 15 begins as he’s set for his third journey to the U.Ok. The streaking contender splashed onto the scene with a ninth-round stoppage of then-unbeaten Josh Warrington two years in the past nearly to the day of his first title problem. Their September 2021 rematch befell in Warrington’s hometown of Leeds, however resulted in anticlimactic vogue as a conflict of heads left Lara with a minimize which ringside physicians deemed too extreme to proceed.
The interim interval resulting in Saturday’s title struggle noticed Lara rack up a pair of third-round knockout victories. The latest got here in a blitzing of Jose Sanmartin final October 22 in his Mexico Metropolis hometown. The occasion was a comfort prize, as Lara’s initially scheduled September 24 conflict with Wooden was postponed after Wooden suffered a torn biceps.
DAZN principal card, 7:00 p.m. GMT/2:00 p.m. EST
Dalton Smith (13-0, 10KOs), Sheffield, Yorkshire, 139 kilos vs. Billy Allington (10-1-4, 0KOs), Egham, Surrey, 139 kilos—12 rounds, junior welterweight
Cheavon Clarke (4-0, 4KOs), Gravesend, Kent, 199 kilos vs. Israel Duffus (20-8, 18KOs), Los Angeles through San Miguelito, Panama, 197 kilos—rounds, 10 cruiserweight
Gary Cully (15-0, 9KOs), Naas, Eire, 134 kilos vs. Wifredo Flores (10-0-1, 5KOs), Dunkirk, New York through Ponce, Puerto Rico, 134 kilos—10 rounds, light-weight
Gamal Yafai (19-2, 11KOs), Birmingham, West Midlands, 124 kilos vs. Diego Alberto Ruiz (23-6-1, 12KOs), Las Talitas, Argentina, 123 1pounds—10 rounds, junior featherweight
DAZN ‘Earlier than The Bell’, 4:15 p.m. GMT/11:15 a.m. EST
Aaron Bowen (professional debut), Coventry, West Midlands, 165 kilos vs. Mathieu Gomes (5-4, 5KOs), Saint-Etienne-du-Bois, Ain, France, weight to come back—6 rounds, middleweight
Junaid Bostan (4-0, 4KOs), Rotterham, Yorkshire, 155 kilos vs. Peter Kramer (12-7-3, 8KOs), Budapest, Hungary, 155 kilos—8 rounds, junior middleweight
Kieron Conway (18-3-1, 4KOs), Northampton, Northamptonshire, 168 kilos vs. Jorge Silva (21-7, 12KOs), Matoshinos, Portugal, 167 kilos—8 rounds, tremendous middleweight
Sam Maxwell (16-1, 11KOs), Liverpool, Merseyside, 144 kilos vs. Shaun Cooper (13-4, KOs), Willenhall, West Midlands, 143 kilos—6 rounds, junior welterweight
Jake Donovan is a senior author for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
