Video: Mauricio Lara and Josh Warrington go at it ringside after Lara’s win over Leigh Wood

The rivalry between Mauricio Lara and Josh Warrington is far from over.

Lara beat Leigh Wood via seventh round stoppage to win the WBA featherweight title today in Nottingham, and Warrington was in the house, doing some punditry work for DAZN earlier in the night and then watching the main event.

After all the in-ring stuff was over, Lara and Warrington had to be held back from one another ringside:

Lara (26-2-1, 19 KO) made his name in early 2021 with a then-shocking upset over Warrington in the United Kingdom, a fight where Warrington had given up his featherweight title to fight Lara and target a bigger bout later. That bigger bout didn’t come, obviously. A rematch between the two ended in a no-contest later the same year.

There is clearly no love lost between the two fighters, and just this week, Lara told us that he still desires a third fight with Warrington, whose last fight was a loss to Luis Alberto Lopez.

“It’s personal between me and him now. He talks so much shit about me outside of the ring, but is never able to do any of his talking inside it,” Lara told Lewis Watson. “This was proven again when he lost to Luis Alberto Lopez at the end of (last) year. He doesn’t respect us as Mexicans.

“I want to retire Warrington. And if I can do it in his own house then that is even better. He is a dirty fighter and I will need to be more aware of that if we fight for a third time. I know that Lopez now has the title, but Warrington is still a fight that I need to draw a line under.”

Even with his most recent fight being a loss, Warrington (31-2-1, 8 KO) could be a next opponent for Lara because of the rivalry aspect of the matchup, and it’s still credible enough, especially compared to plenty of other world title fights in the sport.

That said, Wood does have a rematch clause — pretty standard for boxing world title fights these days, which is another story for another time — and if he chooses to exercise that clause, then Lara will have to fight Wood again or vacate.