Leigh Wood has said he wants a rematch with Mauricio Lara ‘in May or June’, after losing the WBA featherweight title to the Mexican last month.

Wood, fighting in his hometown of Nottingham, suffered a TKO defeat by Lara in February, as the Briton’s coach Ben Davison threw in the towel late in Round 7.

Wood, 34, had just beaten the referee’s count after a knockdown, but Davison opted to protect his fighter from potentially sustaining further damage.

“It’s been hard, because it still hurts,” Wood told the BBC. “I want an immediate rematch. I’ve told [promoter] Eddie Hearn that’s what I want.

“I want the rematch as soon as possible; I want it as early as the end of May, or in June by the latest.

“I can’t say too much, because I don’t want to give away the gameplan, but I knew that the first four rounds are when he’s most dangerous, and then he was gassing.

“He was as I thought he was, and he didn’t know what I was doing. I just got caught with a good shot. I got complacent, started planting my feet and paid the price.”

Speaking on Davison’s decision to throw in the towel with six seconds left in the seventh round, Wood added: “He’s there to look after me, his job is to protect me, but I’d rather die trying to win.

“I think I would’ve been alright, but I get why he did it. I’ll come back to fight another day, and I’ve got two kids at home.”

Lara, 24, has also been linked with a trilogy bout against Josh Warrington.

Lara beat the Briton via TKO in February 2021, before the pair’s rematch ended as a technical draw seven months later. Lara suffered a severe cut in the second round after an accidental clash of heads.

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