The laat time the boxing world saw Mauricio Lara, he delivered a spectacular knockout of Emilio Sanchez in the final second of the third round back in March. Now, more than seven months later, the "Bronco" is back as he clashes with Jose Sanmartin at the Plaza de Toros Arroyo in Mexico City, Mexico, and live on DAZN, on Saturday night.
Another scintillating performance and Lara (24-2-1, 17 KOs) could line himself up for a title shot soon thereafter, making Sanmartin (33-5-1, 21 KOs) a pivotal opponent. That being said, DAZN lists the keys to victory for both Lara and the game Colombian fighter.
Jose Sanmartin’s keys to victory
Commit to the body early
You’d have to date back to May 2018 for the last time that Mauricio Lara suffered a loss. To stop a hungry, ferocious puncher like the “Bronco,” Jose Sanmartin would be wise to make early deposits to the body. A debilitating body shot could be the recipe for the Mexican fighter to lower his guard enough for Sanmartin to head hunt a vulnerable Lara upstairs. But it will start with that early commitment to the body.
Unleash quick hooks
Lara has a tendency to hunch over and leave his chin open especially as he works his way inside. He showed this in March against Sanchez. Although Lara scored an electric third-round knockout of Sanchez, he left his chin vulnerable across many sequences and was lit up for it. These are the moments that Lara could be ripe for the picking in the form of a heavy-handed but quick hook. Subsequently, Sanmartin should look to seize these sequences with swift, powerful hooks.
Uppercuts to split the guard
When Lara goes forehead-to-forehead with an opponent lobbying for position, an uppercut could be just the thing to not only unglue him from that spot, but derail “Bronco,” period. Sanchez unloaded on three straight uppercuts to end the first round of their fight with the last one especially blasting Lara. If Lara resorts to going head-to-head with Sanmartin, the Colombian fighter must sit on the uppercut to ensure he’s leveraging it with the utmost power as possible.
Mauricio Lara’s keys to victory
Unload compact hooks upstairs
Lara is at his best when his hooks are compact and crunchy. His ability to snap into these short hooks make him the banging, savage of a fighter that he is. As the 24-year-old gets older, though, it’s imperative that he exercises more timing with the shots rather than swinging for the fences. Although it’s a fine line because putting too much emphasis on timing would take away from the fighter’s raw ability and instincts. All this being said, the hooks are at their best when they’re short and to the point.
Dig to the body
Lara enjoys head hunting and it works for him more times than not. But to diversify his punch portfolio it would aid him to dig to the body a bit more. All that it would take is dipping his hands lower on those hooks so they’re aimed at Sanmartin’s ribs and liver. Those would be great targets for Lara to soften up Sanmartin.
Refrain from throwing wide shots on offense, Use head movement on defense
As aforementioned, Lara’s hooks are best when they’re unleashed compactly. That means having the discipline to keep his wild-swinging hooks in check. For one, he often comes up empty on untamed attempts like that and more importantly, they leave him open for counters coming from the opposite end. To the latter point as well, Lara did a great job moving his head over spots in the Sanchez fight but he failed to show that head movement consistently. Fighting against an older fighter and veteran like Sanmartin should give Lara the opportunity to show off that head movement round to round.
Follow DAZN News on Saturday night (Oct. 22) beginning with the main card at 8 p.m. ET for all the live updates, results and highlights from Lara vs. Sanmartin, live on DAZN.