Josh Warrington Speaks On Upset Loss To Mauricio Lara

Josh Warrington has commented on his stunning defeat to Mauricio Lara.

This past Saturday, February 13, Warrington went one-on-one with Lara. The bout was not contested for the IBF Featherweight Championship as Warrington vacated the gold in hopes of getting big fights with Xu Can and Gary Russell Jr. Those fights have seemingly slipped away after Lara scored the ninth-round TKO victory.

Speaking to The Sun, Warrington reacted to his upset loss against Lara.

“I went to the hospital on Saturday night, just as a precaution, and passed all the tests. It was the first time I have been down and touched the canvas as a professional. I’ve got a fracture on my jaw and some swelling around my lips but that is to be expected when you trade with a big-punching Mexican. Congratulations to Lara, he grabbed his opportunity. Looking back, I should have boxed more clever and made it easy for myself.”

Warrington was never able to recover after Lara dropped him in the fourth round. “The Leeds Warrior” survived the round but was wobbly throughout following the knockdown. Lara continued to find the target until Warrington was finally stopped in round nine.

This is the first loss in Warrington’s pro boxing career. He went into his showdown with Lara holding a 30-0 record. Before vacating the IBF gold, Warrington had three successful title defenses including a unanimous decision win over Carl Frampton.

With the victory, Lara improved his record to 22-2. This was his 15th knockout victory. Lara has gone 11-0, 1 NC in his last 12 outings.