In February of this year, Josh Warrington, the recent
former IBF Featherweight world champion, who had relinquished his crown due to
elements surrounding the politics of the sport of Boxing climbed into the ring
with veteran Mauricio Lara at the Wembley Arena in London, England in what was
thought by some to be a means for Warrington to simply re-enter competition
after being sidelined like much of the world by the ongoing global COVID-19
epidemic. Although some thought of Mauricio Lara as a mere opponent, he did
enter the fight with a respectable record of 22-2, with 15 Knockouts compared
to Warrington’s 30-0, with 7 Knockouts.
It became clear rather quickly once the fight began that,
despite not having the resume comparable to the former world champion, Lara was
not interested in being a mere opponent for a fighter in Warrington that
frankly had bigger things looming ahead of him. As some may recall when the two fighters met
on February 13th of this year, Lara proved to be the stronger of the
two fighters as he frequently landed hard thudding punches on Warrington. This
included Lara dropping the former world champion hard in the fourth round with
a flush left hook to the head.
Although Warrington showed tremendous heart in this
fight, he simply could not find a way to keep Lara off of him and it was in the
ninth round that Lara brought the fight to an end by knocking Warrington down
with another left hook leading to the fight being stopped. This now leads to the rematch on Saturday,
September 4th at the Headingley Stadium in Warrington’s hometown of Leeds,
England. The bout will headline a nine-bout card broadcast globally by digital
subscription sports streaming network DAZN.
There is no dispute that Lara’s knockout of Warrington
was an upset, but it was also the type of performance and knockout that some might
ask how Warrington will look in this immediate rematch. Some may also question
the wisdom in Warrington choosing to take the rematch over six months after the
first bout. To be specific, taking the rematch in a relatively short time after
suffering a beating at the hands of Lara.
In this observer’s eyes, the focus going into this
rematch is squarely on Josh Warrington. Warrington is a former world champion
and does have experience at the top level of the sport. What is usually
questioned after a fighter sustains the kind of punishment he did against Lara
is what effect will it have on the fighter in the long-term? While every
fighter and every knockout is different, it is a fair question to ask.
Warrington is a world-class boxer that is capable of
Boxing his way to convincing decision victories. What worked against him in the
first fight in my eyes was he was more willing to engage with Lara than had
been the case against previous opponents. Perhaps this was due to not being
familiar with Lara’s style or possibly taking Lara, who was not well-known
going into that bout a little lightly with an eye toward more lucrative fights
ahead. Whatever the case might be, Warrington’s decision to be more stationary
and not use lateral movement to the level he has previously in his career
played into Lara’s hands as he gradually broke Warrington down.
An old saying that yours truly believes in with regard to
not just the sport of Boxing, but all combat sports is styles make fights. It
may be a case that Lara might have a style that is just too difficult for a
fighter with Warrington’s style to combat. While this remains to be seen, it
will be interesting to see if Lara tries to implement the same pressure/power
punching style that worked to his advantage in February. A question that some
might ask is whether or not it will be the same approach or if Lara will
implement slight changes in order to deflect any adjustments that Warrington
might make this time around. If Lara is able to repeat his performance in the
rematch, it will be hard not to say that he would not be in line for a world
championship opportunity in the 126lb. Featherweight division in the near future. While a second loss to Mauricio Lara would
not necessarily put his career in doubt, a second loss would almost certainly
drop Josh Warrington out of the picture of potential world championship fights
and other lucrative opportunities for a period of time.
The Lara-Warrington rematch card will also feature two
bouts that have significant interest. First, undefeated Undisputed Women’s
Lightweight world champion Katie Taylor will defend her crown against former
IBF Featherweight world champion Jennifer Han in a bout scheduled for ten
rounds. For Taylor, who is the top fighter in the 135lb. Lightweight division,
the question is how long will she remain at Lightweight. As an undisputed world
champion, Taylor has no shortage of opportunities going forward that could see
her challenge Undisputed Welterweight world champion Jessica McCaskill, who
Taylor defeated in December 2017 in her first title defense of what was then
the WBA Lightweight world championship that she eventually fully unified with
the WBC, IBF, and WBO world championships, or even a fight with seven-division
world champion Amanda Serrano, who is coming off of a successful defense of her
unified IBF/WBO/IBO Featherweight world championship over Yamileth Mercado on
the undercard of Jake Paul’s victory over former MMA world champion Tyron
Woodley.
While there is no shortage of potentially lucrative
fights ahead for Taylor, in Jennifer Han, Taylor will face a former
Featherweight world champion who has not lost a bout in seven years, but is coming
off a bit of a layoff due to having a child and is moving up in weight to
challenge Taylor. Han, who is the current number one contender in the
International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) Women’s Lightweight ratings is a
veteran of twenty-five bouts and will enter the bout with a record of 18-3-1,
with 1 Knockout compared to the champion who will enter with a record of 18-0,
with 6 Knockouts.
Although Taylor’s toughest test to date was in her first
fight with former Lightweight world champion Delfine Persoon in June 2019, the
question that I usually have prior to one of her bouts is whether or not an
opponent will be able to deal with her hand speed and overall ring generalship.
The first bout with Persoon, which Taylor won by ten round majority decision,
was the only time that one could make an argument that the decision could have
gone the other way. Since that outing including her rematch with Persoon in
August of last year, Taylor has been dominant and has not lost many
rounds.
Like Taylor, Jennifer Han is a world-class boxer who
knows how to go the distance and win rounds, but the question I have is whether
or not as the fighter moving up in weight, if she will be able to deal with the
champion’s hand speed and overall Boxing ability. It may also be fair to ask
whether or not she will be able to take a punch as a Lightweight as well as she
has as at Featherweight. What Han does have in her favor is she has not been
stopped in her three career losses and like the champion is firmly established
as a distance fighter. Whether Han will be able to outwork Taylor over the
course of ten rounds in a fight where a knockout may not be likely remains to
be seen.
The third featured bout on this card will be the
rescheduled Welterweight bout between undefeated contender Conor Benn and
Adrian Granados. As some may recall, this bout was originally scheduled to
headline the first week of promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing Fight Camp
2021 season back in July, but was postponed two days before the fight when it
was revealed that Benn had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus subsequently postponing
the fight. As readers may recall in
previewing that fight prior to the postponement, this figures to be a stern
test for Benn against Granados who has a lot of experience coming into this
fight. Although due to the length of this column as well as the fact that yours
truly already previewed this fight prior to its original postponement, the
story now has a wrinkle in that the question will inevitably be asked whether
or not Benn is completely recovered from his bout with COVID-19.
Although since the COVID-19 epidemic began and since the
sport of Boxing resumed activity in the summer of last year there have been
fighters who have dealt with COVID-19 infections and did not show any adverse
effects after being cleared to resume their careers, there have also been those
who have appeared to have obvious lingering effects after their bouts with this
virus such as longtime Heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin, who looked
extremely sluggish, very fatigued, and had obvious trouble with his equilibrium
in his rematch with Dillian Whyte in March of this year. A fight that Whyte
stopped him in four rounds. Obviously, every
situation regarding one’s exposure to and recovery from COVID-19 is going to
differ, but it is fair to question not just in regard to Conor Benn, but all
athletes combat or otherwise as to potential lingering/long-term effects that
may or may not show prior to fights. Something that may be even more
justifiable given the current state of the ongoing global crisis.
With over 20,000 spectators expected at Headingley
Stadium in Leeds, England, this card has three interesting storylines to keep
an eye on both in regard to the fights themselves as well as the effects some
fighters might have experienced either due to a knockout loss or due to exposure
to COVID-19. While the fact that stadiums around the world are gradually being
secured to stage Boxing cards such as this one and other sporting and concert
events is an encouraging sign that maybe, just maybe things are approaching
getting back to normal, we need to keep in mind that the COVID-19 virus and
it’s variants are still very much a factor. Although talk of the virus, it’s
effects, and the various impacts of it remain dominant in news on television,
radio, in print, and online around the world, hopefully, at least for a little
while a Boxing card like this will be able to provide a needed diversion from the
negative that seems to overshadow most things in this ongoing epidemic. If the
action inside the ring turns out to be as compelling as it appears it might be
on paper, this night of Boxing will likely be remembered fondly even though it
takes place under still challenging circumstances.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
Lara vs. Warrington 2 takes place on Saturday, September
4th at Headingley Stadium in Leeds, England. The entire card can be
seen exclusively globally on digital subscription-based streaming network DAZN.
The Lara-Warrington 2 slate of programming will begin with the DAZN Boxing Show
beginning at 10:30AM ET/7:30 AM PT. This will be followed by the Before The Bell
pre-fight show that will feature three of the nine total scheduled bouts on the
card that will begin at 11:50AM ET/8:50AM PT. The main card featuring the remaining
six bouts will follow beginning at 2PM ET/11AM PT. (ALL U.S. Times.)
*Card Subject To Change
For more information about DAZN
including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices/platforms/Smart TVs,
local start times in your area, availability around the world, and to subscribe
please visit: www.dazn.com.
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau
Denison All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
