Leigh Wood injures biceps, Mauricio Lara fight postponed

Scratch one of the best fights on the schedule, as Leigh Wood has withdrawn from his upcoming WBA “world” title defense against Mauricio Lara. Wood injured his biceps over the weekend.

The bout will be rescheduled, while the original Sept. 24 show will proceed with Kid Galahad vs Maxi Hughes as the main event.

It’s a good fight in its own right, but it’s not, you know, “smashing two action figures together while making explosion noises” like Wood vs Lara.

It’s a major blow for DAZN in its UK viewership battle with Joe Joyce vs Joseph Parker on BT Sport Box Office that evening, and the major end-of-year dates are filling up fairly quickly. We’ll see how Eddie Hearn and Co. decide to play this, because this is a matchup that deserves eyes on it.

Hughes (25-2-2, 5 KO) has been on a really good run at lightweight, and will now face a former featherweight titleholder in Galahad (28-2, 17 KO), who hasn’t fought since his stunning Nov. 2021 loss to Kiko Martinez, and will be moving up two divisions.

The card also still features Hannah Rankin (12-5, 3 KO) defending her WBA 154 lb title against Terri Harper (12-1-1, 6 KO), a former titlist at 130.

Heavyweight prospect Solomon Dacres will be in action, too, as will cruiserweight prospect Cheavon Clarke.