Seven months after Warrington was brutally knocked out by the then unheralded Lara, he’ll step into the ring with him again. This time he’ll be hoping he can come away with a victory and save his career at world level. For Mauricio Lara this is the final step before a world title shot though the Mexican likely feels he already is a champion albeit without a crown.
I think stylistically Lara poses a lot of problems for Warrington. He’s tough, punches hard and isn’t afraid to take one to give one. Warrington has a come forward swarming style but doesn’t have the power to make it truly effective. When he comes forward and lets his hands go it plays into Lara’s hands as the Mexican can trade with him and always come out on too due to the power difference. Warrington isn’t a fighter who is comfortable trying to box opponents from the outside and his level as a fighter significantly drops when he tries to do so.
I’d be surprised if this fight went any different to the first unless there was some major injury we didn’t hear about from Warrington’s side before that fight. I think Lara will hurt Warrington early and often, a few knockdowns later the ref will wave off the fight and Lara will go on to challenge for a title. Warrington could try and box from the outside but I don’t think he’s good enough at that style of boxing to keep Lara off him and it’ll just means he gets stopped late rather than early. I also thought Warrington looked drained at the weigh in and I expect if he loses the weight cut will be brought up as he looked a drawn out man on Friday.
Boxing Fulcrum 