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- 🥊 Featherweight Robin Hood
🥊 Featherweight Robin Hood
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Fight With Teddy Atlas Newsletter, your one stop shop for all things combat sports related, brought to you by Teddy and The Fight team.
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Fight News From Around The 🌍
Lara Looking To Rob The Sheriff
Saturday night in Nottingham, England (the land of Robin Hood), WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood looks to make the second defence of his title, following his 2022 Fight of the Year fight with Michael Conlan.
Looking to spoil the party for the hometown hero is the young and powerful Mauricio Lara, most noted for his 2021 demolition of another hometown British favourite, Josh Warrington.
His 9th round KO of the IBF champion shocked the boxing world and launched the Mexican onto the world scene from relative obscurity. Since then, none of his fights have gone the distance, including his controversial cut-induced no contest with Warrington in their rematch, where he regularly complained of the Brit's illegal use of his head.
He'll come to Nottingham with a point to prove, looking to steal the WBA belt from the champ and bring it back to Mexico. The added spite from the Warrington rematch and his confidence on UK soil will make things very interesting.
Wood, who the bookies have down as the underdog, will be looking to prove that he is the real deal and will be high on confidence following his come from behind performance against Conlan. The added chip on the shoulder of being the underdog as the champ should give him an extra gear, which he will need against a ferocious puncher like Lara.
What to look for in the fight:
Resistance. Wood is no slouch, but Mauricio Lara possesses thudding power and is one of the best finishers in his weight class. Conlan (who is not a big puncher) had Wood very hurt for a few rounds after dropping him. It's unlikely that Lara will do the same, so look for Wood to have to come through a big test of his chin if he's to win this.
Body. Leigh Wood is a very underrated body puncher, and Lara has shown vulnerabilities to his midsection in fights before. He'll probably look to keep it long and use his range early on and reap the rewards of body shots later down the line.
Fun fact: Lara and Wood have the exact same number of professional fights (28), but Lara is 10 years younger than him.
In With The New?
Former Strawweight champion Jessica Andrade steps in to replace Taila Santos in a five-round main event on short notice, taking on the rising contender Erin Blanchfield in a real veteran vs prospect match up that should be entertaining whilst it lasts.
The Brazilian former champion has just come off a technical knockout victory over Lauren Murphy with a full camp, so she'll be confident in her gas tank and will have the added benefit of having fought relatively recently.
Blanchfield, who is still only 23 years old, is coming off the biggest win of her career at MSG against the popular "Meatball" Molly McCann, who she submitted in a round. She hasn't lost since 2019, when she dropped a razor close decision to Tracy Cortez in Invicta FC.
Her winning streak hasn't included anyone of Andrade's power or experience, so it'll be fascinating to see how her grappling and takedown heavy style meshes with the aggressive pressure fighting of Andrade.
Too early for the young star, or will it be a passing of the guard?
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Wood vs Lara (Saturday 18th/Sunday 19th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 3pm Eastern/ 12pm Pacific | Main Event: 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 8pm | Main Event: 10pm
🇦🇺 Full Card: 7am Eastern/ 5am Western | Main event: 9am Eastern/ 7am Western
MMA: Andrade vs Blanchfield (Saturday 18th/Sunday 19th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific | Main Event: 7pm Eastern/ 4pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 10pm | Main Event: 12am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 9am Eastern/ 7am Western | Main event: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western