During the chaotic seventh-round of the first fight, referee Michael Alexander intervened, deeming that the knockdown Josh Warrington had suffered was worthy of stopping the fight and raising Leigh Wood’s arm in triumph.
The knockdown, inside a noisy Sheffield Arena, came almost on the bell to end the round and Warrington was not allowed a minute in the corner to regroup.
Team Warrington have insisted, since that fight in October 2023, that the bout was halted prematurely, and they finally get to fight again on Saturday, this time at the Motorpoint Arena in Wood’s hometown of Nottingham.
This time, the man tasked with controlling the action is referee Mark Bates in one of his biggest assignments to date.
Not only do the fighters have a score to settle, but the bad blood between the fighters has manifested making Bates’ role even more pronounced.
Bates has overseen 780 professional bouts since achieving licensed referee status in 2017. He has refereed fighters like light-heavyweight contender Ben Whittaker, Hamzah Sheeraz, Sam Noakes and former cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith, and he also marshalled the bloody fight between Sam Eggington and Lee Cutler that was halted after nine rounds after a headclash last April.
Judges for the fight are experienced Scot Victor Loughlin, Kieran McCann, and Kevin Parker.
