Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Let’s give Leigh Wood credit for taking this fight. He could have chosen an easier voluntary defence than Mauricio Lara, but it is refreshing to see a champion wanting to fight the best.

It’s not often you see a champion, in his own backyard, as the underdog. But coach Ben Davison and team Wood are confident they see enough vulnerabilities in Lara to force the win.

Northern Ireland's former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton: "I think it will be a fantastic fight. Two really big punchers. I think Leigh Wood has more about him than being a big puncher, but I'm not sure Lara does.

"Lara's really unorthodox but that power is dynamite. Wood may not be as powerful as Lara but will be more ring savvy. I hope Leigh Wood can do it and doesn't get carried away with the home crowd and get involved in too much of a fight. I'm sure [his coach] Ben Davison will drill it into him not to do that.

"It will be a cracking fight. I'm not going to pick a winner. But what I will say is that it doesn't go the distance. Someone will get chinned."

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn: "If Leigh Wood can get past three or four rounds I think he can stop him. But those opening rounds are going to be treacherous. How he got off the deck with Michael Conlan, he can't afford to get hit like that on Saturday night. Lara hits hard, is ferocious and doesn't stop coming forward."

Former light-middleweight world champion Hannah Rankin: "I can see potential knockdowns on both sides, but I'm going with another late knockout for Wood."

We are live on BBC Radio 5 Live now so press the play button at the top to listen to live commentary of the main event.

Ronald McIntosh, Barry Jones and Steve Bunce are our brilliant commentary team tonight.

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Two-time world champion Josh Warrington will be at the arena tonight working the TV broadcast, and the ‘Leeds Warrior’ has his eyes set on the winner.

If it’s Lara, there’s an opportunity for redemption. The Mexican, who was relatively unknown in February 2021, shocked the then-unbeaten Warrington. Seven months later, the fight was stopped in the second round and declared a draw after an accidental clash of heads.

Should Wood retain his title, then there is every possibility we will see a huge all-British stadium fight at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground this summer. With Warrington bringing his faithful Leeds United following, it will be some event.

Josh Warrington
Two-time world featherweight champion

I know this may sound silly coming from a man who was knocked out in nine rounds by Mauricio Lara, but I don't think the Mexican is world level.

Leigh Wood has proven himself by beating Xu Can and Michael Conlan, and is on the cusp of becoming a highly regarded fighter with some huge nights ahead if he can overcome Lara. He's taken full advantage of the opportunities that have come up in the past 18 months.

I was the one meant to be fighting then-champion Xu in 2021 for the Ring magazine belt, the belt of all belts, but Lara beat me and that all went out of the window.

That gave Wood the chance to fight Xu and he beat him well. The year before, he'd lost to Jazza Dickens. He must have thought his career was over. So certainly he's got to be thanking his lucky stars, but he's taken advantage of that position and fully grasped it.

His desire and his heart are up there, no one can question that. We saw that in the Michael Conlan fight - where Wood was hurt in the early stages, but came from behind to win.

But again, I wouldn't place Conlan as world class either. He's a brilliant fighter, but he's not a world champion.

I would say Lara is fringe world level. It's a great fight for Wood to come through and show he's gone beyond that domestic and fringe world title level.

Read more of Josh Warrington's column for BBC Sport here.

WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood says he is relishing being the underdog for his fight with Mexico's Mauricio Lara.

"That underdog mentality, not only do I thrive on it, I kind of need it," Wood said at Thursday's news conference. "There's nothing he can bring that I'm not prepared for. I'm ready for a smart, technical knockout."

Wood has won 26 bouts, with two losses, since making his debut in 2011. Lara, 24, boasts a record of 25 wins, with two losses and one draw.

"It's going to be special," Wood added. "It's going to be a wolf pit. A cauldron. Hostile."

Wood's trainer Ben Davison added: "He has been written off numerous times in the year. Every time he has come back better and stronger and [risen] to the challenge.

"That's when you see the best of Leigh Wood. A fight when Leigh Wood is heavy favourite, you won't see the best of Leigh Wood."

Former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew expects a great fight.

Featherweight James 'Jazza' Dickens, who beat Wood in 2020: "It's going to be a brilliant fight and I think Leigh Wood will sneak it. I think he'll get a good start by controlling the pace and then late on Lara will force the pace.

"I wouldn't be surprised if either man goes down, but I think Leigh Wood will sneak it late on and get it on a close decision, maybe a controversial decision."

Former super-featherweight world champion and BBC Radio 5 live analyst Barry Jones: "It's a real pick 'em fight, and whoever gets the better start might be the one who prevails. I'm going for Lara in a real firefight.

"I just think his looping punches will be harder for wood to block and counter off, than the more conventional work of Wood. Either way, it's guaranteed to be explosive while it lasts."

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

From just before the Dalton Smith fight...

Now this is a first.

There are Matchroom Boxing T-shirts being shot out of a cannon and into the crowd. Whoever finds a golden T-shirt will get to sit ringside next to Eddie Hearn for the main event.

He's boxing's answer to Willy Wonka.

There's still time to check out BBC Radio 5 Live's Boxing podcast by clicking in the link below. Leigh Wood, Dalton Smith (who is currently in action), Cheavon Clarke (who won earlier tonight) and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn are among the guests.

We have one more fight before Leigh Wood and Mauricio Lara will be making this walk to the ring, so ring walks probably between 10:15-10:30.

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Thursday’s news conference in Nottingham’s Albert Hall was fairly low-key, but that all changed at the weigh-in.

We had Lara’s trainer, Alejandro Galindo, question the scales when Wood weighed in. He wasn’t aware the number was showing in kilograms, not pounds, and had to be converted.

Galindo seemed to put his hands on Wood, which irked Eddie Hearn. When the two fighters went face-to-face, they exchanged words and then jostled to get in front of the photographers.

Bizarrely, all was fine again between team Lara and Hearn after the challenger offered the promoter a slice of his pizza moments after the weigh in.

"It was a cold pepperoni pizza, but I'm not going to moan about it," Hearn told me.

Boxing. It’s a strange old sport.

British Olympian Cheavon Clarke got his fifth win in five fights since turning professional with a cruiserweight success over Panamanian Israel Duffus, knocking his opponent down in three different rounds on his way to a wide points win.

Ireland's Gary Cully only needed two rounds to see off Puerto Rican lightweight Wilfredo Flores.

Flores suffered a bad cut in the opening round and was then stopped in the second.

A story you may have missed from the boxing world earlier this week...

The World Boxing Council, one of boxing's major sanctioning organisations, has proposed transgender boxers should have their own division rather than fight in the existing male or female categories.

The WBC is the first of boxing's major bodies to join other sports in considering introducing laws regarding transgender participation, announcing proposals for a specific category for transgender fighters.

The proposals, which were announced in December , externaland remain largely hypothetical, have drawn a mixed response from transgender boxers.

Critics have called the move "dehumanising" towards transgender athletes and say it encourages permanent segregation, as well as being unnecessary given the WBC does not have a single transgender boxer that it sanctions.

The WBC oversees fights at an elite level - former heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder had 25 pro fights before he fought for his first WBC title.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman says "safety is our priority" when introducing transgender categories and that it has been done to allow "any athlete who wishes to box to take part in the sport they love".

Let us know your thoughts on tonight's action by tweeting us using #bbcboxing

Former IBF featherweight champion Kid Galahad: "It's going to be an entertaining fight regardless of the outcome. Both fighters hit tremendously hard. It's going to be one of those fights where you can't afford to blink as one shot can change it all.

"My heart is saying Wood, my brain is saying Lara. Both fighters could leave the ring with a little bit missing out of them. This fight is going to go down in history as a blockbuster."

Wood's coach Ben Davison: "Lara is a dangerous puncher who came out of the abyss against the number one fighter at the time in Josh Warrington.

"Yes, he's dangerous, but he's also reckless, and I don't think he can be reckless against a puncher like Leigh."

In February last year the then-unknown featherweight Mauricio Lara inflicted a first career defeat for former world champion Josh Warrington with a ninth-round stoppage, catapulting his name into world-level boxing.

Lara has also vowed to win by stoppage this weekend, saying: "When opportunities come round I take them with both hands. I feel convinced I will win.

"I've prepared as well as I possibly could. I feel like this is almost my second home. This will not go the 12 rounds."

After losses to fellow Britons James 'Jazza' Dickens and Gavin McDonnell, Leigh Wood's world title aspirations had been written off by many, but his own self-belief never dwindled.

"It's been a long journey to get here," a relaxed-looking Wood said. "I've come a long way."

A link-up with trainer Ben Davison reignited his career and paid dividends when Wood won the WBA 'Regular' title against China's Xu Can in 2021.

He then defended his title in a modern-day classic last March when - once again deemed an underdog by the bookmakers - he beat Irishman Michael Conlan in a dramatic 12th-round knockout, having been behind on all three judges' scorecards.

Wood was then upgraded to full WBA champion in December after Leo Santa Cruz vacated the title - with tonight's fight his first since then.

Leigh Wood re-lives his knockout in his "fight of the year" clash against Michael Conlan in 2022.

What a finish.

Hello and welcome to BBC Sport's coverage of the WBA world featherweight title bout between England's Leigh Wood and Mexico's Mauricio Lara.

We will have live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live from 22:00 GMT and you will be able to listen along in this very page.