Via Jack Tien Nam: Frank Smith is indicating that Matchroom will prevent Leigh Wood from entering an immediate rematch with Mauricio Lara in a move.”for the sake of his career.“
Given the way Lara stopped Wood (26-3, 16 KOs) in the seventh round on February 18 last month, it would be reckless to rush straight into a rematch with the slugger giants.
If Wood’s punch resistance suffers as a result of him losing TKO, then Lara will take full advantage of that as he will likely be sprinting off the starting line, looking to check his chin. yourself early and often.
Letting Lara fight Josh Warrington next will give Wood, 34, a chance to rest and get back into shape against a soft puncher. It wouldn’t be a good idea if Wood fought Michael Conlan next as he has shown that he has enough power to make him nervous.
someone like Jordan Gill, James Dickens or Liam Davies would be the perfect thing to keep Wood busy and use as a confidence booster.
It was important for Wood to focus on boxing instead of looking to hit the slugs as he couldn’t afford to trade Lara in the rematch as he showed he couldn’t handle the power of me.
Lara not only injured Wood in the seventh round, but also staggered him in the second with a right-handed swing. It could be said that if Lara had continued to fight hard in the third round, he would have most likely stopped Wood.
“Discussions are ongoing with Leigh Wood. There are a lot of big fights going on in that division,” said Frank Smith boxing society. “Josh Warrington is there. Kiko Martinez, then Mauricio Lara. There are a lot of great wars to be made. So does Michael Conlan.
“Leigh Wood wants a rematch [with Lara]. Of course, he wants a chance to win his belt back. Simultaneously, we have to do good things for his career. Me, Eddie and Ben Davison met and talked about next steps.
“Leigh is trying her best to make the next rematch. It could be so. It could be the Josh Warrington fight. That winner [Lara vs. Warrington] face. There are plenty of opportunities out there, so hopefully there will be some news on that soon. It will also come pretty quickly.
“I think it won’t be far to get one of those battles up and running. There are a lot of variables in there. Ultimately we have to work with people who struggle with what they want. Leigh Wood went there with one of the toughest volunteers [Lara] that you ever imagined. That’s what people don’t do.
“I was commenting on how he did that, and people were like, ‘It’s crazy that he’s praising people for the right fight.’ That’s reality. People don’t always want to fight hard voluntary.
“We consider everything for the benefit of the boxers. People will always give their advice, but they are the boss. They are responsible and they will make the final decision about train groups around what they feel is right next.
“Look, there’s a lot of interesting games going on there, and I think we’ll see them in the next twelve months. You can’t win with so many fans. It’s a bit like Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk. Everyone said he was leaving because he didn’t want to fight Oleksandr Usyk.
“He fought Oleksandr Usyk, and he lost to one of the best boxers out there. Then people say, ‘Useless.’ It was like, ‘You said he was going to vacate,’ and then he fought him again in a rematch. The mentality is strange.
“Instead of looking at all the positives, people will look at the negatives. I think when fighters do tough fights, they should be praised for it, not get backlash on social media when it doesn’t go their way,” Smith said.
