NOTTINGHAM, England – Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington remained respectful at Thursday’s final pre-fight press conference.
They will fight on Saturday in Nottingham, England, to settle a three-year feud that has existed since their first encounter. Wood walked out the winner that day in nearby Sheffield back in 2023, but Warrington had been on top, and the stoppage proved a little controversial. After much back-and-forth they seemed set for a rematch, but it has taken until Saturday for them to finally be matched and potentially put an end to their dispute.
“[A knockout win] is the only way I can see it going if I’m being honest with you,” said Warrington, 35. “I can’t really see what Leigh is going to do differently to make it go quicker. We out-punched him, out-fought him, went on the back foot, went on the ropes, did everything we had to do, but left ourselves very open. He caught me with a fantastic shot, and then five clean ones after that – the fight was over. I’m confident this fight will go early [on Saturday].”
Wood’s come-from-behind win has led to questions over whether he will be outclassed for much of the rematch. The 37-year-old has often snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and is untroubled about doing so again on Saturday night.
“I’m confident – that’s not me thinking it’s going to be easy, I’m not expecting it to be easy, nor do I want it to be easy because I actually feel better when I’ve had to
go through a little bit to get the victory,” he said. “I know what I have to do, it’s a lot clearer.
“We’re both going to have the will to win. I know what he brings – we’re both two-time world champions, you have to have something about you to get to that level. I just feel like on Saturday night my something is going to shine so much fucking brighter.”
