Leigh Wood vs. Josh Warrington | DAZN - 7 October 2023

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[tigermoth87]

How ahs Warrington wormed a title shot despite his last fights being ...

A humiliating KO loss to Lara, a no-contest, beating a completely shot Kiko and then losing again.

Hasn't had a good win since beating Kid Galahad back in 2019 ... and the word good is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

[Ruthless-RKO]

How ahs Warrington wormed a title shot despite his last fights being ...

A humiliating KO loss to Lara, a no-contest, beating a completely shot Kiko and then losing again.

Hasn't had a good win since beating Kid Galahad back in 2019 ... and the word good is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

He must be ranked in the top 15 for IBF.

Voluntary in-house defence.

[tigermoth87]

How ahs Warrington wormed a title shot despite his last fights being ...

A humiliating KO loss to Lara, a no-contest, beating a completely shot Kiko and then losing again.

Hasn't had a good win since beating Kid Galahad back in 2019 ... and the word good is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

He must be ranked in the top 15 for IBF.

Voluntary in-house defence.

They've gotta change the rules. Stop clowns who haven't done anything for years from getting a shot.

First--if your last fight was a loss, you shouldn't be allowed a title shot. It makes a mockery that you can lose and then challenge for the world title.

Then--your last fight should be against a top-15 ranked fighter to qualify for a title shot. Stop clowns from fighting bums until they creep into the top 15.

[SeanBrennan]

How ahs Warrington wormed a title shot despite his last fights being ...

A humiliating KO loss to Lara, a no-contest, beating a completely shot Kiko and then losing again.

Hasn't had a good win since beating Kid Galahad back in 2019 ... and the word good is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

He must be ranked in the top 15 for IBF.

Voluntary in-house defence.

They've gotta change the rules. Stop clowns who haven't done anything for years from getting a shot.

First--if your last fight was a loss, you shouldn't be allowed a title shot. It makes a mockery that you can lose and then challenge for the world title.

Then--your last fight should be against a top-15 ranked fighter to qualify for a title shot. Stop clowns from fighting bums until they creep into the top 15.

this would be an excellent reform, I think promoters would resist it too much for it to ever become a reality though.

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Fight Week!!

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[cutsman]

Looking forward to this one. Just hope cuts don’t ruin this

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Leigh Wood

Do you think you can knock Josh out?

“Yeah. I’ve been ringside for his last three fights, I’ve seen him get hurt. I know he’s tough. I don’t believe the people he’s been hurt by hit as hard as me and at the same time aren’t as calculated as me, so they might land a few good shots but are they good finishers? Have they got good set ups? I don’t think they have. I think Lara is a big puncher, not calculated, he doesn’t do what he needs to do. He’s not a great finisher in the sense like, gets someone hurt and knows what he’s got to do to set it up. He rushes sometimes, but I believe I’m one of the biggest punchers in the division. Not only that, I can set it up and I’m calculated.”

How does it play out?

“I believe he’s going to make the same mistakes he makes and do the same things he always does. I know that I’m going to be dominant the majority of the fight. I’m going to beat him up at times as well. I’m here to win and he’s here to win as well. I know what I need to do to win and I’m confident of doing it.”

Josh Warrington

Do you question whether or not you’ve still got what it takes to compete at the very top level? It is one win in your last four.

“If I listened to the critics I would never have got to the level that I’ve achieved now. I started off slow in my last one, and that’s it – I’ve seen better days. It were me who finished on top at the end. I still feel like I’m in my prime. I really do. I’m feeling top of my game right now.”

[TheLeprechaun]

Warrington is such a filthy fighter. I'm going to predict that he wins this by some combination of cheating and good boxing.

[Kilburn]

Warrington did enough in his last fight, despite losing, to keep this a decent domestic dust up.

Got to favour Wood though, he's a tad superior to Warrington in all areas isn't he?

[garethhop]

The ticket prices for this are incredibly high. Nowhere near a sell out.

[CaptainSpacerod]

I’m really looking forward to this one.

The only cloud on my horizon is the question of how many women’s fights I’ll have to sit through before the main event ?

[JackSprocket]

I’m really looking forward to this one.

The only cloud on my horizon is the question of how many women’s fights I’ll have to sit through before the main event ?

Just one

[SeanBrennan]

I’m really looking forward to this one.

The only cloud on my horizon is the question of how many women’s fights I’ll have to sit through before the main event ?

Just one

excellent news

[coneye]

The ticket prices for this are incredibly high. Nowhere near a sell out.

High prices , cards littered with women who should still be in the ameteurs and in some cases novice ameteurs . Boxings not in great shape is it really .

[CaptainSpacerod]

I’m really looking forward to this one.

The only cloud on my horizon is the question of how many women’s fights I’ll have to sit through before the main event ?

Just one

[Kilburn]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen old Cecilia box before, sort of looking forward to it.

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presser today

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Leigh Wood Hints At Weight Move After Warrington Clash: "It's Getting Hard To Make Featherweight"

Leigh Wood has hinted that he is likely to move up in weight after his next fight.

The Nottingham featherweight takes on Josh Warrington on Saturday, exclusively live on DAZN.

Wood, who is trained by Ben Davison, meets the man from Leeds in a defence of the WBA world title at 126lbs on neutral ground.

The pair will meet at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, atop a card promoted by Eddie Hearn for Matchroom Boxing.

And Wood, who regained the belt with a points win over Mexican danger man Mauricio Lara in their rematch back in May –– after getting stopped by the former Warrington opponent inside seven rounds three months earlier –– is big for the weight.

“I’ve wanted this fight for maybe five or six years,” Wood told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour while being joined by Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper. “I was calling for this when Josh was flying high and I couldn’t get a fight of any description.

“But I picked Warrington and told Eddie [Hearn] that I wasn’t going to fight him unless it was in the contract that my next fight would take place at the City Ground [the home of the aforementioned Nottingham Forest] and we’ve got that clause in there.

“What I need to do is go out and win and then I’ll have a little break –– because I’ve had three fights on the spin this year and at world level, not many fighters do that.”

Warrington, a former two-time IBF world champion at featherweight who was himself stopped by Lara in their first fight in February 2021. In his last outing, back in December last year, the 32-year-old (31-2-1, 8 KOs) dropped a majority decision at the hands of his mandatory challenger Luis Alberto Lopez, also of Mexico, to succumb the red, white and gold belt a second time after initially relinquishing it pre-the first Lara showdown.

Eddie Hearn, the promoter of both men, has teased that Warrington could move up to super-featherweight in the future, to take on current IBF world champion Joe Cordina (16-0, 9 KOs).

And though Warrington has stated that the fight happening would come down to the amount of money put on the table by Hearn, ‘Leigh-thal’ Wood seems very intent on stepping up whatever the result this weekend.

“On Saturday, I’m going to go out there, I’m going to impress, be dominant and I’m going to win and then I’ll have a few months off and then hopefully we get the fight there in May,” he continued. “I’m just going to stick to what I’ve practiced with my team, my game plan, because I know what I need to do. If all goes to plan, I can see myself getting him [Warrington] out of there with a mid-to-late stoppage.

“I’ve got a lot of options on the table, but I think I need to move up. It’s getting hard to make this weight and I’ve made it for a long, long time so this will probably be my last fight at featherweight –– unless I get an offer I can’t refuse which would tie in with the City Ground.

“If not, though, we’ll move up and look at the options. I think, when you vacate a belt [to move up], you become number one for that belt and whoever has got the WBA [world title at super-featherweight] at the time, we’ll look at that. There’s Cordina, which is a great fight, but I don’t really want to think about or talk about it.

“My eyes are on Saturday night and I’m going to go out there and show everyone exactly what I’m all about.”

[a force]

It’s a hard fight to assess. The obvious narrative is that Warrington’s on the way down & Wood’s on the way up.

But the way I look at it is if Wood fought Lopez my money would be on a Lopez stoppage & if the version of Lara that turned up in the Wood rematch fought Warrington then I’d back Warrington.

I think a prime Warrington is better than a prime Wood & I still think against Lopez that Warrington showed he’s got plenty left.

I’m not as convinced as others that Wood is having some kind of Indian summer. I think he’s got the jackpot in that Conlan gassed trying to finish him & that Lara was so dreadful in the rematch. I think he’s had several hard fights & had a couple of stoppage defeats & is nowhere near as fresh as some are suggesting.