Michael Conlan was watching closely as Mauricio Lara defeated Leigh Wood in Nottingham on Saturday night.
Wood lost his WBA featherweight world title after being knocked out in the seventh round by the Mexican.
Wood, 34, was ahead on all three judges scorecards in a thrilling contest at the Motorpoint Arena, but was dumped by a brilliant left hook and his trainer Ben Davison threw in the towel.
READ MORE: Leigh Wood loses world title after stunning KO by Mauricio Lara in brutal fight
Wood sustained a nasty cut near his left eye after an accidental clash of heads at the end of the first round and was boxing superbly before the big-hitting Lara, 24, delivered his knockout blow.
Lara landed a booming right hook in the second round, which buckled Woods’ legs, but the champion responded with some big shots of his own in the third.
Wood was hurt again by a right-left combination from the Mexican early in the fourth, but again the Englishman dug deep to finish the round strongly.
Lara was visibly hurt by a body shot in the fifth and was caught with another heavy combination before being sent reeling on the ropes in the sixth by a huge right cross from Wood.
But just as the partisan crowd sensed Wood was getting the measure of a dangerous opponent, Lara, who inflicted a first career defeat on former IBF featherweight world champion Josh Warrington, connected with a stunning left hook.
Wood beat the count but was clearly on wobbly legs and his corner threw in the towel.
He won the belt with a final-round stoppage of China’s Xu Can in 2021 and repeated the feat against Conlan last March in The Ring magazine’s fight of the year.
Reacting to the fight, Conlan simply wrote on Twitter: "Wow."
The tweet led to many boxing fans commenting to say that they hope to see Conlan face either Lara or Wood in the future.
One wrote: "Strap up, champ! It’s your time."
Another said: "You will wipe floor with Lara mate."
Someone else added: "Don't worry champ, you will get your comeback and knock them both out."
Conlan also praised Gary Cully after the Kildare native knocked out previously undefeated American Wilfredo Flores in the second round of their bout to claim the WBA Inter-Continental lightweight title.
The Belfast man wrote: "Great performance from Gary, the leverage he gets on his shots is crazy lol Cully v Maxi Hughes is a fight I’d like to see next for Gary! Well done mate."
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