Leo Santa Cruz Relinquishes WBA Title, Leigh Wood Gets Elevated
He is now the sole champion in the WBA's division.
Mexican professional boxer Leo Santa Cruz has vacated his 126-lb “Super” title.
The World Boxing Association revealed this news shortly before Leigh Wood (26-2, 16 KOs) became the sole WBA featherweight champion.
🥊 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
Leo Santa Cruz has officially relinquished his WBA ‘Super’ Featherweight Title‼️@itsLeighWood will now defend the ‘Super’ Title on February 4 at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham against Mauricio Lara 💥 #WoodLara pic.twitter.com/Kdb99WMPQc
— International Boxing News (@IntBoxingNews) December 13, 2022
The 34-year-old Wood is currently the only champion in that organization at featherweight.
Wood’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said on Saturday that Wood will defend his WBA belt against Mauricio Lara (25-2-1, 18 KOs) in Nottingham in 2024. The British boxer had already planned to take on Lara but decided against it due to an arm injury.
However, the 24-year-old Lara doesn’t believe that Wood was injured. He thinks that the 34-year-old backed off because he didn’t want to face him.
Lara has all the attributes that you can dream of for a professional boxer. He is quick, tough, and mentally very strong and can prove to be a nightmarish matchup for Wood.
The former Commonwealth featherweight title holder survived a scare against Michael Conlan last March before securing victory with a 12th-round knockout.
Hearn may have to decide against the potential Wood-Lara fight as Wood is the only WBA 126-lb champion. The promoter said last Saturday that he wanted the Britisher to line up against either Josh Warrington or newly crowned IBF champion Luis Alberto Lopez.