Mauricio Lara returns Oct. 22 on DAZN, faces Jose Sanmartin in Mexico City

Featherweight contender Mauricio Lara will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 22, jumping into the ring in Mexico City to stay active against Jose Sanmartin in a DAZN main event.

Lara (24-2-1, 17 KO) was supposed to fight Leigh Wood for the WBA’s secondary featherweight belt on Sept. 24 in the UK, but that was postponed due to a biceps injury to Wood, and now the idea is off the table with Leo Santa Cruz vs Rey Vargas also falling apart, and the WBA making the move to order Santa Cruz — their “super champion” — to face Wood in a title consolidation.

Instead of continuing to sit on the sidelines, Lara is getting into action. Sanmartin (33-5-1, 21 KO) is a 25-year-old Colombian with seven straight wins, none of them against particularly tough competition.

In the co-feature, lightweight Angel Fierro (19-1-2, 15 KO) will Jeremy Cuevas (14-1, 10 KO), and welterweight prospect Reshat Mati (12-0, 7 KO) will also return.

Oct. 22 was looking like another unusual, dead empty Saturday, coming so close to the one we just had on Oct. 1, but now will have this show and Triller’s event in Kansas featuring a bunch of sons of people who were good. So there is at least some boxing that night now, and that’s better than not.