By Mark Eisner: Former IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington (30-1-1, 7 KOs) and Mauricio Lara (23-2-1, 16 KOs) fought to a second round technical draw on Saturday night in their rematch at Headingley Stadium in Leeds.

The fight was stopped at the end of round two due to a deep cut that Lara, 23, had suffered in the second round from a clash of heads. The ringside doctor ruled that the cut was too severe to allow the fight to continue.

Warrington had gotten the better of Lara in the opening round, landing some nice right hands to the head. In the second round, Lara stalked Warrington around the ring and landed some massive punches.

Towards the end of the round, Warrington lowered his head rushed toward, banging into the face of Lara.

It was obvious from watching the action that Lara would be soon if Warrington continued to lower his head and rush him.

Sure enough, in the final seconds of the round, Warrington rammed into the face of Lara with the crown of his head, opening up a bad cut over his left eye.

The action was briefly halted while Lara winced in pain from the head-butt. When the fight resumed, Lara went on the attack, looking angry as he pelted Warrington with big shots to the head one after another. As the round ended, there was no doubt who was in charge.

Lara vs. Warrington results:

Undisputed female lightweight champion Katie Taylor (19-0, 6 KOs) defeated challenger Jennifer Han (18-4-1, 1 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 100-89, 100-89, and100-89. In the eighth round, Taylor dropped Han.
Undefeated welterweight contender Conor Benn (19-0, 14 KOs) was forced to go the 10 round distance in defeating the crafty journeyman Adrian Granados (21-9-3, 15 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 97-93. Boxing News 24 scored it 100-90. Granados, 32, was in survival mode from round one and was moving nonstop. “It was very frustrating. I was ready to go toe-to-toe, but he didn’t want it,” said Benn after the fight. Granados was landing shots, but he didn’t have the power. “He wanted to do his normal destruction job,” said Eddie Hearn about Benn. “That 10 rounds in the bank, and now we move on to a big fight in December.” Overall, it was a good performance by Benn, but he didn’t look as good as Danny Garcia did in stopping Granados in the seventh round. Danny showed better power on his shots than we saw from Benn tonight.
Maxi Hughes (24-5-2, 5 KOs) surprised fans tonight with a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision over IBO lightweight champion Jovanni Staffon (24-4-1, 17 KOs). Hughes badly hurt Staffon with a big left to the head in the fifth, and flurried on him but was unable to get the stoppage. From that point on, Hughes dominated the champion Staffon. The scores were 120-107,120-107, and 119-109. Boxing News 24 scored it 120-107.
Female bantamweight prospect Ebanie Bridges 7-1, 3 KOs) had to dig deep to defeat France’s Mailys Gangloff (5-3, 2 KOs) by an eight decision. Bridges fought well early and gassed out, and struggled in the last part of the fight as Gangloff took over. The score was77-76. A rematch would be a good idea.
Undefeated 122-lb prospect Hopey Price (6-0, 2 KOs) destroyed Zahid Hussain (16-2, 2 KOs) by a second round knockout in a hometown clash in front of their fans. Price knocked Hussain down with a right to the head in the first round. In the second round, Price knocked Hussain down with another big shot. After Hussain got back up, Price flurried on him resulting in the fight being halted by the referee. The time of the stoppage was at 2:33 of the second round.
Unbeaten super bantamweight Jack Bateson (14-0, 3 KOs) defeated Felix Garcia (7-3-1, 3 KOs) by a six round points decision. The score was 58-56. Bateson was dropped in the second round.
Junior middleweight prospect Brandon Stansfield (2-0, 0 KOs) beat the game but limited MJ Hall (2-63-2, 0 KOs) by a four round points decision. The score was 40-36.
Light heavyweight prospect Mali Wright (1-0, 1 KOs) defeated Antony Woolery (2-7, 0 KOs) by a second round knockout.

Former IBF featherweight champion Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) will be giving it another go against #4 IBF, #4 WBC ranked Lara (23-2, 16 KOs) at Headingley Rugby League Stadium.

In the chief support bout, unbeaten undisputed female lightweight champion Katie Taylor (18-0, 6 KOs) defends against American Jennifer Han (18-3-1, 1 KOs) in a 10 round fight.

Warrington, 30, was unexpectedly beaten by Lara last February in a massive shock defeat in London. Besides overlooking the 23-year-old Mexican native Lara, Warrington was hurt by a hard left hook that stunned him in the first round.

What time does Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington 2 start?

Tonight’s Lara vs. Warrington 2 event starts at 2:00 p.m. ET. The actual Lara-Warrington headliner fight is expected to start around 5:00 p.m. ET. It could take longer depending on the undercard action.

The UK start time for the Lara vs. Warrington II card is 7:00 p.m.

Warrington never recovered fully from that opening round, was later knocked down in rounds four and nine by Lara.

Although Warrington was advised not to take the rematch with Lara right away by many boxing fans, he stubbornly has insisted on doing so, believing that he can come out victorious if he boxes smartly.

Warrington will have the opportunity to show the boxing public that his loss to Lara seven months ago in February resulted from being sloppy and careless early on and not making the proper adjustments after being clipped in the first round.

Josh still could have won the fight had he boxed Lara after getting hurt in the first round, but he chose to continue to brawl with the bigger, stronger fighter off & on until getting stopped in the ninth.

Warrington is in a do-or-die fight tonight against Lara, as he must win if he wants to get a world title shot against Kid Galahad or one of the other belt-holders at 126.

“It’s been an up and down period, time for reflection and to reassess myself,” Warrington said recently in processing his loss to Mauricio. “I’ve watched the first fight a dozen times. I’m mentally and physically prepared for Mauricio,” said Warrington.

Where to watch Lara vs. Warrington 2?

The rematch between the two highly ranked featherweights Warrington and Lara will be shown live on DAZN from the Headingley Rugby League Stadium in Leeds, England.

“It won’t be the same result. I want revenge. I can’t wait to get back in there and rewrite the script. It’s nothing personal, just business. We get back on track to the top.”

After beating Warrington last time, Lara isn’t worried about whether he can do it again. He feels he’s got Warrington’s number, and he’ll be ready for whatever game plan the Leeds warrior brings to the fight tonight.

“I’m going for a repeat performance. Warrington should know that I am coming for him,” said Lara.

This could be the end of the line for the 30-year-old Warrington if he loses because his chance of getting another world title shot will disappear after another loss.

If Lara beats Warrington tonight by another knockout, the only shot Josh will have of fighting for a world title is if his promoter Eddie Hearn hooks him up for a business-level fight against IBF featherweight champion Kid Galahad.

It wouldn’t be a case of Warrington earning a title shot in the traditional sense. This would be a business fight in which Matchroom gives Warrington a title shot against Galahad because the match will make money.

The action kicks off this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. ET on DAZN for the Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington card from Leeds, England.

Warrington wants to avenge his loss to Lara from earlier, and he’s going to have 20,000 screaming supporters egging him on to do just that.

Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington 2 full card

Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington – headliner
Katie Taylor vs. Jennifer Han
Conor Benn vs. Adrian Granados
Jovanni Straffon vs. Maxi Hughes
Ebanie Bridges vs. Mailys Gangloff
Hopey Price vs. Zahid Hussain
Jack Bateson vs. Felix Garcia
Brandon Stansfield vs. MJ Hall
Mali Wright vs. Anthony Woolery