Mauricio Lara vs Carlos Ornelas Preview August 29th, 2026
Former WBA Featherweight Champion Mauricio Lara will be taking on fellow Mexican Carlos Ornelas in their homeland this Saturday, August 29th. The 10-round junior lightweight bout can be seen live on DAZN in most nations. Ornelas last fought in February when he stopped Lamberto Meza in the second round. In his previous outing in April, 2025, Ornelas was stopped by Abdullah Mason after six rounds in a shot at the vacant NABF, and WBO NABO Lightweight Titles. Lara was last in action in March when he halted Rafael Rosas Ramirez in the second round.
Lara vs Ornelas Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Carlos Ornelas +560
- Mauricio Lara -1000
My Pick
Lara is now 28 years old and made his pro debut back in October, 2015 as a teenager. He has boxed 165 rounds since and owns a record of 30-3-2. He measures 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch reach and is known as a pretty hard hitter as 76.7 per cent of his wins have come by way of knockout including his last four straight.
The first defeat for Lara came at the hands of Julio Carabino by four-round split decision in his pro debut and he was stopped in just 50 seconds by Eliot Chavez in May, 2018. His first draw was a technical decision after two rounds with Josh Warrington in September, 2021 when the fight was stopped due to a cut to Lara’s eye from an accidental headbutt. He also battled to a 10-round draw with Daniel Lugo in 2024.
Lara first made a name for himself on the world stage in February, 2021 when he decked the previously unbeaten IBF Featherweight Champion in the fourth round and then stopped him in the ninth round in an upset. Up until then, Lara’s level of opposition wasn’t the greatest but all of his opponents had entered the ring with winning records. He traveled back to England in February, 2023 and halted Leigh Wood in the seventh round. However Lara looked quite disinterested in their rematch three months later as he dropped a unanimous decision and was also decked in the second round.
Lara came in almost four pounds overweight and was stripped of the title before the fight. Since losing his belt, he has fought to the draw with Lugo and then reeled off four straight KO victories. One of those wins was a 125-second TKO over veteran Miguel Roman. Lara is now trying to climb up the lightweight ratings to hopefully land a world title shot in the near future.
As for the 31-year-old Ornelas, he makes the ring walk with a mark of 29-5 with 16 Ko’s and has 156 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2014. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch reach, the same dimensions as Lara. He possesses just above-average power as 55.2 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. However he’s stopped just two of his last eight opponents and his record is 5-3 over that span.
Ornelas’ first loss came at the hands of Willmak Brito in 2018 when he was stopped in the fifth round. At the time, Ornelas was unbeaten at 21-0. In 2019 he was halted in the seventh round by Jhon Gemino. Edwin Palomares then halted him in five rounds in 2020 and in his next fight Ornelas dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Rafael Espinoza, who is now the WBO Featherweight champion of the world. With Abdullah Mason also stopping Ornelas it means he has been halted in four of his five defeats. His biggest wins have been against Jose Alberto Guzman, Juan Jimenez and Dennis Contreras.
Prediction…
Lara was having problems making the 126 lb featherweight limit so he headed north to junior lightweight at 130 lbs. He’s still only 28 years old and possesses an aggressive, hard-punching style. He usually doesn’t appear to worry about the judges during his fights as he doesn’t plan on them going the distance. And considering that Ornelas doesn’t have the greatest punch resistance as he’s been stopped four times, I’m expecting Lara to halt him before the final bell.
Lara’s power combined with Ornelas’ chin equals a win for Lara.
Play: Lara -1000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Carlos Ornelas betting • Mauricio Lara betting