BOXER Mauricio Lara has been handed a two-year ban after failing a drugs test before his loss to Leigh Wood. Lara brutally knocked out Wood in February 2023 and they rematched just three months later. But the Mexican was this time beaten on points - losing his WBA featherweight title. Lara has fought once more since - drawing to Daniel Lugo in Mexico in February of last year. But it has now emerged that Lara failed a UK Anti-Doping test before his rematch loss to Wood - landing himself a two-year ban. His ban is backdated to the start date of his provisional suspension and so will expire on March 6th, 2026. UKAD posted: "Mexican professional boxer Mauricio Lara has been banned from all World Anti-Doping Code-compliant sport for two years, following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance." Lara tested positive for betamethasone - known to treat inflammation and pain. The 27-year-old, claimed the positive test was caused by an injection into his shoulder on 12 May in the build-up to the Wood fight. But Ukad said that did not explain how betamethasone entered his system. Lara shot to notoriety overnight when he knocked out Josh Warrington in 2021. There rematch then ended in a no-contest due to a cut in round two to Lara's eye. Lara beat Wood, 36, for the WBA title but lost it in the immediate rematch.