Eddie Hearn Reacts To Josh Warrington’s Shocking Loss To Mauricio Lara

Josh Warrington suffered the first loss of his career in brutal fashion and Eddie Hearn is stunned.

Warrington shared the ring with Lara on February 13. The action was held inside Wembley Arena in London, England. Warrington was a massive betting favorite for the fight but his spotless record is no more. Lara scored the ninth-round TKO finish over Warrington.

Hearn promotes Warrington under Matchroom Boxing. During an interview with iFL TV, Hearn expressed his shock over the result (h/t BoxingScene.com).

“This is a much bigger shock because Andy Ruiz is a world-class heavyweight. Mauricio Lara was not really renowned as a world-class featherweight. You know, fringe guy who can pop a bit, might have ability, young kid. But tonight, he arrived on the world stage. And, you know, devastated as I am, congratulations to him. I’m happy for him, because he’s changed his life tonight, and that’s a nice story. But I would’ve rather the other story. Maybe we’ll get that later in the year.”

The fourth round proved to be disastrous for Warrington. He ate several shots before being dropped. Many fight fans and experts argue the referee should’ve stopped the fight shortly after the knockdown as Lara continued to land shots on a wobbly Warrington.

This is a tough break for Warrington, who had vacated the IBF Featherweight Title in hopes of scoring big fights with WBA (Regular) Featherweight Champion Xu Can and WBC titleholder Gary Russell Jr. With the stunning loss to Lara, those fights appear to be out of reach for Warrington at the moment.