Mauricio Lara may well have just won the world title but his promoter Eddie Hearn already has a number of options for him.
The Mexican danger man was in full flow last Saturday at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham as he dethroned Leigh Wood inside seven rounds.
Lara had the hometown man down in the seventh round with a left hook, having lost the past few rounds and with ‘Leigh-thal’ well on the way to winning the fight, before Ben Davison, the head trainer of Wood, decided to throw in the towel.
The referee Michael Alexander was just about to bring the duo together to resume the action, after Wood beat the count, but he was unable to do so as Davison called a halt to proceedings, with the ending coming after two minutes and 54 seconds of the round.
Shortly after the final bell, the new WBA featherweight champion bolted over to the far side of the ring and clashed with former adversary Josh Warrington.
Lara and Warrington have boxed twice before, with the second fight being cut short after just two rounds in front of 20,000 at Leeds’ Emerald Headingley Stadium last September due to a head clash just seven months after ‘El Bronco’ shocked the ex-IBF champion by stopping him inside nine rounds behind-closed-doors in February 2021.
And Eddie Hearn, who has all three fighters signed to his Matchroom banner, is keen for the trilogy outing to come to fruition.
“If we don’t do the rematch that’s the only fight we would look to,” Hearn told The DAZN Boxing Show.
The pair engaged in a heated verbal exchange, with Warrington alleging that Lara spat at him –– something the new champion, who turned just 25 on Thursday, later admitted to.
Wood, as the champion going into the fight against Lara, has a contractual immediate rematch and Boxing Scene understands that Wood and his team intend to activate the clause sooner rather than later.
But Hearn has made very clear his desire to make a third fight between Warrington and Lara, whether it comes next or further down the line, depending on whether Wood agrees to step-aside from the rematch, allowing the pair to square off with the guarantee of facing the winner.
“The first fight was in the bubble, it was just the most thrilling, dramatic, probably the most harrowing moment I’ve witnessed in boxing,” he added. “[There was] no sound, no noise, it was just horrible.
“The third fight is a natural fight. [It’s] a big stadium fight, it’s a chance for Josh Warrington to become a three-time world champion, which is unusual, [and] there’s a nice little mix in there.”