Josh Warrington given oxygen after suffering shock first defeat against Mauricio Lara in sickening KO at Wembley Arena

JOSH WARRINGTON was stunned by a sickening shock KO loss that leaves his world title dreams in tatters.

The Leeds hero, 30, relinquished his IBF featherweight title earlier this month to help him secure major fights in the summer so he was overlooking unknown Mexican Mauricio Lara.

The ref waved off the fight after Warrington was KO’d in the ninth

Lara stunned Warrington by flooring him for the first time in his career in the fourth

Warrington had looked unsteady since the fourth round and eventually failed to recover in the ninth round

Lara landed some monster blows to leave Warrington shellshocked

And he was punished with two horrible knockdowns in the fourth and ninth rounds and needed oxygen to recover.

Rusty Warrington was warned over an accidental low blow in the opening minute and was tagged by a couple of shots by the 22-year-old Mexican underdog.

When the Brit leaned forward to throw his right hand, Lara found success with the uppercut.

The second was a firefight, both 9st men planted their feet and unloaded but neither were wobbled by the whacks to head and body.

Warrington usually packs out the Leeds arena for raucous nights and he seemed to struggle in the silence and empty Wembley arena without a full football crowd roaring him on.

The Yorkshireman was rocked to his boots in the final minute of the fourth and smashed to the deck for an eight count.

A skull-shattering left hook robbed him of his senses and he somehow stayed upright for a few seconds.

But another attack sent him crashing to the canvas and he was lucky not to be pulled out by referee Howard Foster.

Warrington incredibly survived a brutal fourth round to fight on

Lara took control early but his eye began to close after taking a hit from Warrington

Warrington failed to find his range in the early going

The shell shocked Brit was dazed and confused throughout the fifth, clinging on to Lara with his legs betraying him.

But a rasping right hand found Lara’s granite chin before the bell ended the heart-in-mouth session.

Warrington told his dad and trainer Sean in the break that he was struggling with a shoulder injury and he had an ice bag on the left joint.

Lara arrived in London with two defeats on his limited record, including his 2015 debut but he was a spiteful puncher who stunned the heavy home favourite.

At the end of the sixth Warrington was hurt again and even when he enjoyed success in the seventh with a few combinations, his legs still looked like jelly.

In the eighth Warrington landed some crisp combinations but they were almost always countered by the visitor’s wild power punches.

A huge right hand and left hook stunned him again and he was battered to the floor and into tears. 

The heartbroken father of two twin girls who celebrate their third birthday on Sunday needed oxygen but left the ring on his feet having recovered.

Warrington attempted to fight back but was unsteady from the fourth

After the fight, Lara said: “It was a great night, I am really happy for my family and all the people back in Mexico.

“We worked really hard for it, we were confident because we believed we could do it.

“In the fourth I did not want to tire myself out because we knew he was No1 in the world for a reason.

“I go away happy but there is a little bit of sadness because I do not get the world title belt but hopefully that will come later.

“I want to get home to my family to celebrate with them.”

Stunned promoter Eddie Hearn said: “That is why this is the best sport in the world.

“No one gave Mauricio Lara a chance, we knew he could punch but we did not think he would beat the No1 featherweight in the world.

“Josh never recovered from that fourth round, he showed tremendous bravery to last that long.

I will never know how he lasted beyond the fourth.

“It is a crushing blow for Josh Warrington, we wanted to talk about a return to Leeds with massive fights but now we are back to the drawing board.

“He will want the rematch but he needs a long rest, he might need medical attention because it was a brutal, brutal fight.

“Josh needs to come to terms with the devastating defeat but he will come again.”

Warrington looked determined as he made his way to the ring to face Lara

British boxing’s first show of 2021 was spoiled before the main event even started.

Manchester super-featherweight Zelfa Barrett was bullied for ten of the 12 rounds he shared with Spanish veteran Kiko Martinez.

The visitor celebrated at the final bell, with the Brit looking distraught and bruised.

But all three judges scored in favour of the 27-year-old Englishman, two with cards of 118-111, leaving Eddie promoter Eddie Hearn embarrassed.

“It was very close but 118-111 is absolutely disgusting for Martinez,” Hearn said about two of the woeful scores.

“If Zelfa won, he won it by one or two rounds. 118-111 does nobody any favours.

“How will we bring world-class fighters to this country with scorecards like that?

“After all that effort Martinez might as well have boxed off his back foot and had an easy night.”