Leigh Wood had his reign as a world champion cut short by Mauricio Lara.

The hard-hitting Mexican wiped out the Nottingham ace with a left hook in the seventh round at the city’s Motorpoint Arena.

Wood rose from the count, but it was his trainer Ben Davison who called a halt to proceedings by throwing in the towel, just as the referee Michael Alexander was about to bring the pair back together.

The home man was cut by the left eye from a head clash in the opening round and had plenty of success in the fight, including hitting Lara numerous times to the body which it appeared he didn’t like.

The 34-year-old seemed to be in control of the contest, connecting with shots and landing with relative ease between rounds three and six.

But Lara, who took out former IBF featherweight titleholder Josh Warrington back in February of 2021, turned the fight on its head.

There were protests from Wood, who was stopped after two minutes and 54 seconds of the seventh round, but it appeared to be the right decision from trainer Davison to call the fight over.

“I just want to say thanks to everyone for supporting me and I’ll be back,” said Wood in the aftermath. “I could have continued, I’m a fighter, but I just want to say congratulations to Mauricio Lara.”

Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Wood who was shocked when Lara stopped Warrington in the bubble two years ago, revealed that there is a rematch clause for the fight.

“Leigh Wood has a contractual rematch clause as champion going into the fight,” Hearn stated afterwards, “and I believe he will want to exercise that rematch.

“Mauricio changed his life with the win over Josh Warrington and now he’s a young world champion in a great division.

“It’s his turn to wear that title round his waist and maybe Leigh has another fight before the rematch or that Lara fights Warrington [for a third time], with Leigh fighting the winner, but it’s one I believe we will see again because it was a tremendous fight.”

Wood can be proud of himself for taking the fight, a voluntary defense, against the man everyone steered away from and will look back on his reign with fond memory but, ultimately, with plenty remaining in the tank to come again.