Josh Warrington vs Mauricio Lara LIVE! Fight result, latest news and boxing reaction after shocking knockout

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arrington vs Lara – LIVE!

Josh Warrington suffered a brutal defeat – the first of his illustrious professional career – at the hands of the little-known Mexican Mauricio Lara on Saturday night.

Returning to the ring for the first time in 16 months, the usually tenacious ‘Leeds Warrior’ was completely dominated during an uncharacteristically sluggish display, being emphatically knocked down in the fourth round but somehow making it to the bell against the odds.

Warrington – who was previously unbeaten in 30 pro fights – received more heavy punishment before being dropped to the canvas again in the ninth after absorbing another massive left hand that forced the stoppage.

The result is one of the biggest shocks in recent British boxing history and seemingly – for now at least – wrecks former IBF featherweight world champion Warrington’s hopes of huge battles with the likes of Xu Can, Gary Russell Jr and Emanuel Navarrete.

On the undercard, Zelfa Barrett retained his IBF Intercontinental super-featherweight title against the experienced Kiko Martinez, with two 118-111 scorecards provoking huge controversy, while Leigh Wood stopped Reece Mould to win the vacant British featherweight belt.

Mauricio Lara bt Josh Warrington

Zelfa Barrett bt Kiko Martinez

Leigh Wood bt Reece Mould

Dalton Smith bt Ishmael Ellis

Hopey Price bt Daniel Mendoza

Ibrahim Nadim bt Jonny Phillips

Follow Warrington vs Lara reaction LIVE with Standard Sport’s blog below…

Live updates Show latest updates 1613262828 Hearn reaction

“He’s going to want to take this man on again. After a fight like that, he’s going to need a long, long rest.

“The most important thing now is to go backstage, make sure he’s OK, if he needs medical attention let’s get it to him, because that was a brutal, brutal, brutal fight.

“We do have the opportunity to rematch this young man, if Josh Warrington wants to. It’s not even in the mind at the moment. What’s on the mind is get Josh Warrington back to his family, let him recover and let him come to terms with what is a devastating career defeat.

“He will come again, he’s a great fighter. He’s been out for a long, long time and like I said, tonight just showed us why we love boxing so much because one punch can change everything.

“Three and a bit rounds Josh Warrington was in control of the fight, a bit erratic. This man with heavy hands landed one on the chin and it changed his life, it changed the career of Josh Warrington, but he’ll be back.

“And I daresay once he recovers, he’ll be wanting to take him on again.”

1613262535 Hean reaction

“For all the great nights, we wanted to be standing here talking about a return to Leeds after the pandemic, the Gary Russell fight.

“Now it’s back to the drawing board, it’s looking at the future. This isn’t the kind of environment he’s used to, but no excuses, he got beaten by a hungry, hungry young Mexican fighter who changed his life tonight.”

1613262296 Hearn hails Warrington bravery

“We have to give Lara tremendous credit,” Hearn continued. “I don’t think I’ve seen bravery in the ring like what I saw from Josh Warrington for a long, long time.

“He never recovered from the shot. I spoke to him in the dressing room before the fight, and I said: ‘The chance that this young man has in the fight is to trade up with you. We know he can punch, just be smart’.

“And he didn’t do that, he was erratic. 16 months out of the ring, the ring rust showed. He got caught with a shot and he never recovered. How he got through that fourth round, I will never know.

“For the remainder of the fight, he was on empty. The bravery was incredible, and people will talk about the upset, but you have to give this man tremendous credit.

“We’ve seen tremendous Mexican fighters and this is another one. 22 years of age and for Josh Warrington it’s an absolute crushing blow. A crushing blow.”

1613261774 Eddie Hearn reaction

“It’s why it’s the best sport in the world, isn’t it?” Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports when asked if this ranks alongside Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz I and Alexander Povetkin’s shock knockout of Dillian Whyte.

“This young man, 22 years of age from Mexico City, comes in, no one gave him a chance. We knew he could fight, we said in the press conference, we spoke to people in Mexico, we didn’t think he’d beat the number-one ranked featherweight in the world, and he did.”

1613261281 Lara reaction

“I go away with a great flavour in my mouth and it’s great for Mexico.

“There’s a tinge of sadness because I haven’t been able to get the belt, but that might come in the future.”

1613261187 Lara on fourth round

“We were working round by round and it did work out as we planned. But in terms of that round, once I put pressure on him, I didn’t want to tire myself out.

“We wanted to take it round by round, because we know he’s number one in the world and there’s a reason why he’s number one.

“So we just took it round by round and worked on it that way.”

1613260980 Lara reaction

“Simply, it’s just been a great night. I’m really, really happy for my family and all the people back home in Mexico.

“We worked really hard for it so it worked out how we planned. I just want to thank everyone in the UK for the warm welcome we received. Our confidence was because we believed we could do it.”

1613260238 Tyson Fury reaction

Tyson Fury blames inactivity for Warrington’s shock loss.

A reminder that before tonight, he hadn’t fought since October 2019…

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Carl Frampton agrees that the fight should have been stopped in the fourth.

Nelson believes it would have been, had the initial heavy knockdown been the other way around…

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Sky report that Warrington has been checked by doctors at the venue and is OK, but will still be taken to hospital for further assessment to be on the safe side.