By: Sean Cross
24-2-1 featherweight Mauricio Lara faces off against 33-5-1 Jose Sanmartin on Saturday evening in a 10-round main event scheduled for the main event card live on DAZN from Mexico City. Both men looked somewhat cautious in the first, although Lara seemed to be down alive at the end of the round. Lara’s supporting crowd cheered the man on as each fighter took high guard in the second. There was a patient aggressiveness to Lara that made him look similar to a young Gennady Golovkin. Sanmartin’s low kick stopped the fight for a few seconds towards the end of the round.
Sanmartin had a bad habit of staying straight in front of the man. It was a habit that paid off in three rounds of fighting. Lara tags him in early, causing Sanmartin to stumble, then fall backwards and hit the canvas near the ropes. Sanmartin won the count, then continued the fight again in the game. But Lara smells blood and goes in for the kill, taking shot after shot with bad aim. Several times later, Sanmartin fell again. But this time the referee had seen enough and decided to stop the fight. Suffice to say, audiences in Lara’s hometown of Mexico City were delighted with the results.
Lara, who introduced Eddie Hearn, is now looking for a title clash. In fact, Lara Wood was set to challenge Leigh Wood for the world featherweight title, but an injury to Wood caused the bout to be abandoned. Of course, post-war tough Lara had some harsh words for Wood. “He says he’s hurt, but… it doesn’t seem true,” Lara said of the dangerous Brit.