LEIGH WOOD says eight months of preparing to fight Mauricio Lara will give him an advantage on Saturday night at the Manchester Arena.
The two featherweights meet for a second time this year after Lara proved he carried more power on the night in February. Wood suffered a heavy knockdown in round seven in front of his own fans at the Nottingham Arena. Each had thrown left hooks simultaneously with 24 seconds to go but Laraโs landed first.
Wood recovered to his feet and referee Michael Alexander looked set to allow ‘Leigh-thal’ to continue but trainer Ben Davison wasnโt convinced and threw the towel in.
A rematch clause was already in place for Wood, and it wasnโt long before promoter Eddie Hearn was told that he wanted another shot at the Mexican dangerman.
โIโm prepared for anything that he brings,โ Wood said at yesterdayโs final press conference.
โThe first-time round was hard because we didnโt have his style against my style to look at, now weโve got that information and we know what he does when I do certain things. Iโve been preparing for him for nearly a year in September. I know him inside out; Iโm just going to go out there and prove that Iโm the better fighter.โ
With his 35th birthday under 10 weeks away Wood is in a must-win position. Another defeat would be an even greater step back than that from his first loss to Lara. An eleven-and-a-half year, career has had its share of ups and downs and some hard fights for Wood who waited a long time to reach world level. Time may not be on his side to climb back up the rankings once again.
โItโs a must-win fight; thereโs a lot of pressure,โ he said.
โI love it, I thrive on it. Whatever it takes on Saturday night Iโm coming away with a win.
โThis is what gets me up for it, I canโt lose. I canโt afford to lose. That could be the end of the road for me. Itโs a long road to come back from. Thatโs why Iโm not thinking about losing, Iโve done everything I can do to win. Iโm confident in winning. I know what I need to do to win. I know what I canโt afford to do.โ