Josh Warrington knocked out by Mauricio Lara in stunning upset

Josh Warrington was knocked out in the ninth round of his fight with unheralded Mexican Mauricio Lara in a stunning upset at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.

The Leeds Warrior took a 30-0 record into the contest, which was meant to be a tune-up for a return to world title bouts after a spell away from the ring.

The 22-year-old Lara had only fought outside of Mexico once before and held a 21-2 record against low level opposition, nowhere near the level of Warrington, rated the number one featherweight on the planet.

It was a slow start from the favourite, although there didn’t seem to be too much concern until the Mexican put the Yorkshireman down in the fourth round.

Warrington looked to be out on his feet as he rose from the canvas and the referee could easily have stopped the fight.

The former world champion looked to have steadied himself and rallied impressively but was caught again in the ninth and then put on the floor again, with Howard Foster waving the contest off.

After victories over the likes of Carl Frampton, Lee Selby, Kid Galahad and Kiko Martinez, this defeat will go down as one of the biggest surprises in recent British boxing history.

Lara said after the fight: ‘It’s been a great night, I’m really, really happy for my family and all the people back home in Mexico.

‘We were working round by round. it went as we planned.

‘There’s a tinge of sadness because I haven’t got any belts from it, but that will come in the future.’

Warrington’s promoter Eddie Hearn said: ‘It’s why it’s the best sport in the world isn’t it?

‘No one gave him a chance, we knew he could fight, but we didn’t think he’d beat the number one featherweight in the world, but he did. So we have to give him credit.’

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