Mauricio Lara Stops Josh Warrington In Ninth Round
Heavy underdog Mauricio Lara (22wins 15 ko, 2 defeats) caused a huge shock in London, UK by stopping the home fighter, undefeated former IBF Featherweight world champion Josh Warrington inside nine rounds.
The Mexican dropped Warrington early in the fight with a left hook in the fourth round. In the following rounds, six and eight Lara continued to battered the Brit with big shots but somehow Warrington was able to survive. The former IBF champion displayed the heart of warrior and the grit of a champion. But it wasn’t enough to recover from the damage already inflicted and eventually fell again in the ninth round where the referee called the fight to an end.
On the undercard, Zelfa Barrett defeated former champion Kiko Martinez by a unanimous decision but many boxing fans as well as promoter Eddie Hearn were disturbed by the judges’ scorecard. The fight was scored by the judges as; 116-113, 118-111 and 118-111. Whilst most fans and Eddie Hearn thought Barrett had won the fight, they felt the scoring should have been closer.
In other fights, Dalton Smith stopped Ishmael Ellis in the third round, Hopey Price won on points over six round against Daniel Mendoza. Leigh Wood stopped in the ninth round.