| Fight Date: | 18 February 2023 |
| Fight Name: | Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara |
| Location: | Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England |
| Titles: | WBA featherweight title |
| Fighter1: | Leigh Wood |
| Nickname1: | Leigh-thal |
| Record1: | 26–2 (16 KOs) |
| Hometown1: | Gedling, England |
| Height1: | [1] |
| Style1: | Orthodox |
| Recognition1: | WBA featherweight champion |
| Fighter2: | Mauricio Lara |
| Nickname2: | Bronco |
| Record2: | 26–2–1 (19 KOs) |
| Hometown2: | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Height2: | [2] |
| Style2: | Orthodox |
| Result: | Lara defeated Wood via round 7 TKO.[3] |
Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara (billed as “Dance with the Devil”) was a featherweight professional boxing match contested between WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood and Mauricio Lara. The bout took place on 18 February 2023 at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.[4] Lara defeated Wood via technical knockout in the 7th round.[5]
On 24 August 2022 was announced that Leigh Wood would make his second WBA title defence against Mexican professional boxer Mauricio Lara at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England on 24 September 2022.[6] However Wood withdrew from the fight ten days before it was supposed to take place, due to a torn biceps suffered in sparring.[7]
The bout was rescheduled for 18 February 2023 at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.
| Weight class | vs | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Card | ||||||||
| Featherweight | Mauricio Lara | def. | Leigh Wood (c) | TKO | 7/12 | 2:54 | ||
| Super lightweight | Dalton Smith (c) | def. | Billy Allington | UD | 12 | |||
| Lightweight | Gary Cully | def. | Wilfredo Flores | TKO | 2/10 | 1:52 | ||
| Cruiserweight | Cheavon Clarke | def. | Israel Duffus | UD | 10 | |||
| Super bantamweight | Diego Alberto Ruiz | def. | Gamal Yafai | 10 | ||||
| Preliminary Card | ||||||||
| Super middleweight | Aaron Bowen | def. | Mathieu Gomes | 1/6 | 1:35 | |||
| Super welterweight | Junaid Bostan | def. | Peter Kramer | 7/8 | 1:30 | |||
| Super middleweight | Kieron Conway | def. | Jorge Silva | PTS | 8 | |||
| Super lightweight | Sam Maxwell | def. | Shaun Cooper | 6 | ||||
During the Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin broadcast, Eddie Hearn, Mauricio Lara and Leigh Wood appeared in the ring to announce the rematch which took place on 27 May at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.[8]