Former WBA featherweight world champion Mauricio Lara has been handed a two-year ban from boxing after failing a drug test in May 2023, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) has revealed.

Lara (26-3-2, 19 KOs) tested positive for the banned substance Betamethasone in a test which was taken a day after his May 27, 2023 rematch with Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KOs).

Wood won the bout by unanimous decision, regaining the title he lost to the Mexican by knockout in their first fight three months earlier.

Lara was asked to explain the presence of Betamethasone in his system, with the 27-year-old claiming it showed up as the result of an injection into his shoulder.

Ukad, however, says that the shoulder injection had no bearing on the presence of the substance in his system.

A more likely explanation for the presence of Betamethasone, Ukad says, is the result of an 8mg injection administered in the 24 hours preceding the test on May 28, 2023.

Ukad describe Betamethasone as a 'glucocorticoid that is prohibited In-Competition when administered by any injectable, oral or rectal route'.

The two-year ban has been backdated to March 7, 2024, when Lara first received a provisional suspension, meaning his ban will end on March 6, 2026.

The rematch was already a controversial one, as Lara came in for the bout three-and-a-half pounds overweight for his 126-pound title defence. As a result, Lara was stripped of his belt before entering the ring on fight night.

Lara has fought three times, winning twice and drawing once, since his loss to Wood, with each bout taking place in Mexico, the latest of which occurred at the end of January.

Lara first made his name in the UK by knocking out former IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington in February 2021 on one of Matchroom's Covid 'bubble' shows.

Since that rematch win over Lara, Wood has fought once, beating Warrington himself by seventh-round stoppage in October 2023.

Nottingham's Wood will face Anthony Cacace in a non-title bout on May 10 at the Motorpoint Arena. The show will be promoted by Queensberry and streamed live on DAZN.