Mauricio Lara has no fear about walking out at a crowded Headingley rugby stadium for his rematch with Josh Warrington on Saturday. After all, the Mexican has every reason to be confident and he is better prepared this time. 

The 23-year-old Mexican was a huge outsider when he battered Warrington to defeat at an empty Wembley Arena in February. Handpicked as an ideal opponent to help the former IBF featherweight champion shake off some ring rust ahead of bigger fights ahead, Lara spoilt Warrington’s plans, eventually stopping him in the ninth round, having battered him from the fourth round onwards. 

“If you saw what I was capable of doing after a month of preparation, imagine what I can do after four,” Lara said. “I think the worst thing you can do is under-estimate somebody, particularly myself when you saw what I achieved last time. I am going to show him on September 4 that it wasn’t luck, it wasn’t coincidence.” 

Warrington admitted that he took Lara lightly last time, something he won’t be doing again. But while Lara is expecting Warrington to be better this time, he believes he can improve too. 

“I think it will be different,” Lara said. “He will come with a strategy, and he will also be looking to put on a good show for his supporters. I think that would almost be suicidal against me because we have a clear strategy and one that is going to bring us the victory. We’ll be following that and giving our all to carry that out. 

“Josh Warrington will know more what to expect from me, but I know what to expect from him, so if anything I go into this with more confidence. 

“I wanted to come here and show him that these things do not happen by luck, it was a lot of effort that went into this to create what happened. That’s why it motivates me hugely. This has become personal because I believe he really under-estimated me. That was a big mistake and that is why I am so motivated.” 

Unlike their last fight, which was behind closed doors, Warrington will have up to 20,000 supporters backing him this time, not that Lara believes it will do him much good. 

“There is absolutely no fear, I think Canelo may have said that before, but that is something I feel as well,” he said. “Regardless of how many people will be there and how many will be shouting, it is just me and him in there, so that is what I shall be focusing on.” 

The first win was life-changing for Lara, who will earn comfortably the highest purse of his life for the return. But it is not the money he is thinking about right now. Victory would push him towards a world title shot, with British pair Leigh Wood and Kid Galahad, the WBA and IBF champions respectively, and his countryman Emanuel Navarrete, the WBO champion. all possibilities. 

“Now that doesn’t feel that important to me but it is true that this is life changing, it is a big thing for my family and it is something that makes me very happy,” he said. “It is something you dream of when you go into boxing. You think about the economic side of things and the money side of things, but at the same time I do boxing because I am passionate about it. I would almost fight for free. 

“Afterwards, it’s a case of whoever, but right now my focus and purely and solely on September 4. I am not thinking about any other fighters. You can get distracted when you start thinking about that, so it is not something I will be doing. But in terms of opponents, at 126 I am prepared to face whoever will give me the opportunity, it doesn’t really matter.” 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.