Part of the enduring mythology, and indeed allure, of boxing is the chance to change one’s fortunes from known to unknown with simply the strength of their own two fists. It’s a draw for participants and it’s what keeps even the most cynical fans with an eye on the screen even when they ‘know’ what they’re about to see.

The unexpected unfolds just often enough that even the most hapless matches will always have a flicker of ‘you never know’ tugging at the back of our heads.

Mexico’s Mauricio Lara was far from history’s biggest underdog when Lara stepped in to challenge the UK’s undefeated former featherweight titlist Josh Warrington in February. It didn’t mean many were predicting what unfolded as any sort of likely outcome.

Mauricio Lara (23-2, 16 KO), largely unknown, just days shy of his 23rd birthday, walked into the ring an underdog and left as a new face near the top of the featherweight division. All it took was a little less than 27 minutes of ring action to hand Warrington his first loss, dropping him in the fourth and finishing him in round nine.

A professional since 2015 while still a teenager, Lara opened his career with a defeat, suffered a first round knockout in 2018, and put it all in his rearview mirror with one excellent performance. The prize, so far, is found in top ten ratings from the WBC, IBF, and WBO with an IBF mandatory within striking distance.

All Mauricio Lara has to do now is do it all over again (Saturday, DAZN, 2 PM EST).

Josh Warrington (30-1, 7 KO) will have something to say about it. 

Now 30, Warrington is fighting for his fistic life. Consecutive wins over Lee Selby and Carl Frampton in 2018 were his change of fortune. From contender to titlist to titlist to be taken seriously; it all came about in those two fights. There were some wondering if Warrington belonged classed with the man regarded as the featherweight leader, Gary Russell Jr. 

They still wondered even as Warrington struggled mightily with Kid Galahad.

No one is wondering any more as the question turns to whether Warrington can stay in the hunt at all in the immediate future. 

A fighter like Lara can emerge in a night. Warrington can recede in two. 

It’s not the biggest fight in boxing but it’s the most interesting on the docket this weekend and about as good as one can ask for from featherweight right now.

It’s a rough time in one of boxing’s most classic divisions. There have been some good recent moments, like Lara-Warrington and Leigh Wood’s upset of Xu Can, but it’s mostly just sort of rolling along. 

Russell, who holds the WBC belt, is a fantastic talent but his streak of six consecutive years with only once appearance per year appears in jeopardy with nothing yet on the schedule for 2021. The WBA’s primary titlist, Leo Santa Cruz, hasn’t been in the ring since a Jr. lightweight loss to Gervonta Davis last October and Santa Cruz hasn’t competed at featherweight since a February 2019 defense against Rafael Rivera. WBO titlist Emanuel Navarette was one of boxing’s busiest titlist at Jr. featherweight but has fought only once this year. Galahad recently won the IBF belt Warrington vacated.

In a year where titlists have sought unification already at Jr. bantamweight, Jr. welterweight, and Jr. middleweight, with Jr. featherweight and super middleweight to go, featherweight is as adrift as it has been at any point in the last couple decades. 

It happens to every weight class sometimes. With seventeen, boxing is never going to be hot everywhere all at once. Featherweight will have its time again. One day we might even look back and see Lara was just getting in on the ground floor of the next wave.

A repeat of February is the only way to get there.       

Cliff’s Notes…

It’s hard to follow a career best performance with another at the same level and Kazuto Ioka showed that on Wednesday versus Francisco Rodriguez. A win is a win though and his place near the top of the still loaded, if aging, Jr. bantamweight field remains...Give the show Heels a chance. It may end up the spiritual successor to Friday Night Lights...The request to extend the purse bid deadline for Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter could be a positive sign. Let’s hope so.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.