Wayne Alexander (Former European welterweight champion)
I expect it to be a very good, hard-fought contest and can see a way for both to win. You have to give the utmost credit to Wood for taking a hard defence when it’s not a mandatory. He has the better boxing ability and is a good punch-picker. He is also taller with a longer reach. But I believe that Lara has a style suited for a long and hard 12-rounder and will be putting Wood under a lot of pressure with his heavy hitting from the mid rounds to outwork Leigh. I see Lara winning on points or by late stoppage – if his eye doesn’t open up like it did against Josh Warrington
Jason Cunningham (Former European super-bantamweight champion)
I see it ending by KO. I think it’ll be a great fight while it lasts. They can both punch and both have plenty of heart. Leigh needs to be smart as we know Lara is very dangerous. I’m tipping Wood to do the job but am expecting a cracker.
Dave Allen (Heavyweight contender)
I think Lara wins by stoppage. I’ve written Leigh off numerous times before and been proven wrong every time, but I just think Lara is about as strong and powerful as any featherweight on the planet right now.
Declan Warrington (Journalist)
Leigh Wood’s capable of punching with Mauricio Lara – and at some stage he’s bound to, which is partly why this fight’s so appealing. He’s the more rounded of the two – he’s a better boxer than Michael Conlan allowed him to look – so he’ll win the rounds they don’t spend trading, but they’ll likely trade repeatedly, and when they do Lara’s just as capable of hurting him. Wood’s the narrow favourite but Lara has greater momentum and could make that work for him.
