Leigh Wood won the last chapter battle he shared with rival Josh Warrington. A fight lacking the intensity of many of their best nights and the drama of the pair's first meeting in 2023, Wood won by Unanimous Decision. Warrington simply unable to adapt to Wood's shift in tactics and thudding hooks.
In a bout rich with pre-fight antipathy between the two protagonists but low on the intensity of their youth, Leigh Wood proved the more adaptable and less worn of the the two veterans by outpointing rival Josh Warrington by a wide margin in Nottingham tonight.
There were no titles on the line, just a pair of well-matched Super-Featherweights in the twilight of careers that have both exceeded expectations in terms of the titles they've held and the purses they've collected. At his best, Warrington was a pitiless piranha who consumed his opponents with volume, hand speed and aggression. Sadly, he had none of those things tonight.
As he would conceded in the post fight interviews; "I tried my fucking best but there is something not quite there." And that is the problem with Featherweights fighting on into their 30s. The mirror is kind. The ring is cruel. Any observer would point to a decline that began five years ago when matched with awkward Mexicans, Lara and Lopez, who had the footwork and angles to outwit him. Momentum was stolen away on those nights and Warrington, with his style based on youthful vigour, could never, to his eternal frustration, recapture it.
He has lived on the succour of revenge since his humbling loss to Wood in 2023. The evidence of stiffer legs, hesitation in throwing and dwindling shot resistance was ignored. When the proud Yorkshireman laid the gloves on the canvas following one defeat, a symbol of his retirement, it seemed common sense would prevail, but like every other fighter before him, he returned. Retirement an uncomfortable reality to a young man who burned with ambition throughout his twenties and thought stubbornness would pay the debts almost 300 rounds of prizefighting accumulates.
All those truths were revealed to those too close to see. He was never humiliated. He was competitive in 2 or 3 rounds, but he was but a shadow of the man who chased Lee Selby to defeat and ate Carl Frampton alive.
Wood himself was boxing for only the second time in 28 months. He is also two years older than the man he first beat in October 2023 and admitted to nerves coming into the fight having not boxed since a sobering defeat to Anthony Cacace. However, his success laid in the planning. Opting to box southpaw and with his hands down in the style of the Winconbank gym he once patronised, he befuddled Warrington with tactics. Changing angles and swinging in punches from places Warrington couldn't spot behind his high-guard.
Frustration was writ large on Warrington's face, as if asked to sit a different exam to the one he'd revised for. He tried, with what he had. Surprisingly, his punch resistance was improved - perhaps by the added poundage, perhaps by relative rest or because Wood didn't look to load too heavily. The story of the fight, but for fleeting breakthroughs in maybe the 5th, 10th and 12th, was Wood circling, keeping Warrington off balance, leading with wide hooks around the guard, slung from the hip. It was clever and entirely different to his go-to style.
By the 5th or 6th, Warrington's corner were reaching for the "you've got to show me somethings" every trainer brings with him but hopes not to need. The former Featherweight world champion's feet weren't moving enough. He couldn't close the gap without being clipped hard and it encouraged inertia.
Wood was judged distance well. Didn't over exert, tied up the charging Warrington when necessary and never let him set his feet if he was caught with a lead or a counter. He boxed to his age and reserves. Astutely and with discipline. It was a riddle Warrington was too old to solve and one built on the successes of those pesky Mexicans. The Wood camp had done their homework and had the courage and calmness to deploy an entirely new game plan.
In the end, Wood won on the Roundtable card by 118-10 (10 rounds to 2), but a shut out was a plausible card.
Warrington will have to find peace without the win he craved, but there is no meaningful future for him in the ring. Only more pain and more damage. It is hoped those that love him will remind him of that when the urge rises again in a few months or a phone call is received from someone obligated to share an offer he shouldn't accept.
He has been a good fighter.
Wood too, would be advised to take the win, the adulation and bid farewell. At 37, every fight is a gamble.
Undercard Notes
Bilal Fawaz won the British and Commonwealth titles at 154 pounds with an upset win over the powerful Ishmael Davis that looked improbable after four rounds when the champion was in the ascendancy. Fawaz found a way to upset that rhythm with his awkward angles, showmanship and perseverance. Davis offered opportunity and then those big arms began to feel too heavy and Fawaz grew more animated and more ambitious. Roundtable card had Fawaz sweeping rounds 5-12 to secure a clear victory and titles his life-story, which includes being trafficked as a child to the UK, will be illuminated by.
Big friendly giant Dave Allen, aged 34 and still in search of the dedication he all to infrequently locates, won inside a minute as he begins another run toward an unknown crescendo. He can hit, has a lot more acumen than his soft face and loveable rogue persona propose but lacks in discipline and aspiration. A British title would be the correct route for him, but when you sell the tickets Dave Allen does opportunities can suddenly fall from the sky.
Sandy Ryan won the vacant WBC 140 pound belt by beating Karla Ramos Zamora by Majority Decision over 10 rounds.