One of boxing’s redeeming qualities is the ability for fighters to resolve their issues in the ring, shake hands and move forward with a new-found respect for one another.
However, when you look at the “relationship” between Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington, the opposite is the case.
No rivalry was put to bed. In fact, the feud – such as it was – had been virtually non-existent before. It was in the aftermath of Wood’s controversial seventh-round victory over Warrington in Sheffield in 2023 where things took a turn.
Warrington claims the fight should have been allowed to go on. He was ahead on the cards and had been nailed and dropped on the bell, with feasibly a minute to recuperate between rounds.
But the fight was waved off and Warrington has since protested long and loudly.
Wood had been a sporting winner. But the more Warrington pleaded his case, the more Wood began to gloat.
And two years on a lot of water has gone under the bridge, including semi-regular exchanges on social media, as several efforts were made to get the rematch on.
Finally, on Saturday night at the Nottingham Arena, it happens.
Warrington has his chance for revenge and Wood has his opportunity to put the saga to bed.
Wood is 37 and has fought just once since, when stopped by Irishman Anthony Cacace, who by that point had recorded a decision over Warrington.
“I am confident, and that’s not me thinking it’s going to be easy – because I don’t think it’s going to be easy,” said Wood. “In a way, I don’t want it to be because I’ll actually feel even better when I go on and get the victory, like I did in the previous fight. But I am confident. I know what I need to do, it’s a lot clearer.”
Wood will have the support of Nottingham behind him, and once again will have Ben Davison in the corner.
“The things I’ve been working on and what I have been doing in the gym, which up against a fight night are completely different things, but normally in every camp perhaps my spars haven’t been great – in fact, for the Mick Conlan fight, I had one spar so bad and went and hid in the weights room at the gym to have a cry before Ben [Davison] came and found me,” he said. “So I have sparred quite badly before because I’ve probably tried too hard. But in this camp, the penny has dropped with what I need to do and in my approach to it, so I have been on fire.”
The fighters spent 15 minutes bristling at one another through Matchroom’s Cards on the Table preview and, if you made it to the end of that, you would have seen that both are utterly convinced that they will win.
Wood claimed he had lumps on the back of his head from rabbit punches after the first fight. Warrington has always strenuously denied assertions that he’s a dirty fighter, protesting that he is merely physical.
During that conversation, Wood revealed that he had been offered a purse worth double to face O’Shaquie Foster but said he opted to face Warrington to settle the feud. The Leeds man contended that Wood simply had nowhere else to turn.
The winner will have plenty of options. The loser can also come again, but will likely be sized up by a prospect wanting the name of a former world champion on their record.
Warrington’s father and trainer, Sean O’Hagan, has recognised as much.
“Back in 2024, I retired for a few weeks,” Warrington revealed. “I never officially announced it but I had to mull over my career for a bit before I decided to continue. I felt like I still had more than enough to do some more things in this sport. Even though I have achieved so much and had lots of great memories over the years, in the gym I feel like I’m just getting better and better. I have a more mature mindset. Physically, my numbers keep on getting better and stronger so I’ve trained hard and had a good kick up my backside to keep me working hard throughout – and I feel fantastic. I will show that on Saturday night.”
It is well poised. Both fighters have had tough nights and famous victories. Warrington was on a tear when he collected the scalps of Lee Selby, Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad, while Wood’s thriller with Conlan earned him a fight-of the-year award, he came through two-fights with Maurico Lara, and he impressed against Can Xu back in 2021 in one of the fights that Warrington had long-coveted.
Whether Warrington still thinks his longest-held dream, to fight in Las Vegas and take his multitude of Leeds fans, is still likely, one cannot be sure, but surely that is on the line for the final time.
Wood switch-hit through some of the early stages of the first fight – in October 2023 – and from the southpaw stance he had success with the right hook and the left hand.
Warrington sometimes allowed him too much time and space, and one thinks Warrington will likely try to suffocate him this time; stay in close. That would work two-fold, in that Warrington’s best offense is often done on the inside and he won’t find himself on the tip of the shots that Wood throws so well.
If, however, Team Wood pre-empts that, then Warrington will need to watch Wood’s uppercuts from either hand.
Because Wood is dangerous when he takes a step back and has his opponents at long range.
In the third round of the first fight, Warrington had good spells when he managed to force Wood to the ropes, where there was nowhere for Wood to go. Warrington’s best moments were when he swarmed in, changing the angles; cutting off the ring.
Wood could have held and made things messier; he could have held and spoiled instead of trying to fight Warrington at his own game. But that wouldn’t be Leigh Wood. He rarely does things the easy way.
But he also told me this week that he has very little respect for Warrington’s power. He doesn’t believe that the Leeds man can hurt him.
Warrington, of course, well knows what Wood can do but that doesn’t mean he is best served staying out of trouble and trying to outbox Wood.
As Wood showed in the rematch with Mauricio Lara, he can get behind the jab and rack up points when required.
Interestingly, Wood has been talking about retirement but one cannot be sure either man is looking beyond this fight.
Will a combination of energy and concentration see Warrington over the line? Or will Wood’s power-punching, switching and range give him the edge? It’s finely poised.
Neither has been active and not a great deal was settled last time out. With that in mind, and the idea that Warrington needs to be immaculate for 12 rounds and Wood does not, the pick is for Wood to win a decision. There could be knockdowns. There could be fireworks, and, yes, there could be controversy.
