A broken jaw and a stunning knockout defeat are two of the more brutal reasons why Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington have had to wait for their all-British blockbuster in the featherweight division.
Wood versus Warrington felt like an obvious summer 2022 showdown, either to tick off Wood’s dream assignment at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground or back at Warrington’s stronghold of Elland Road, Leeds.
A dramatic come-from-behind victory over Michael Conlan, where Wood (27-3, 16 KOs) recovered from a heavy first-round knockdown to punch his man sickeningly through the ropes in round 12, made him WBA champion in February last year. A month later, Warrington (31-2-1, 8 KOs) thrashed his way past Kiko Martinez to become a two-time IBF champion.
The only drawback was Warrington's face not remaining in one piece on account of the heavy-handed Spanish warrior, leaving Wood free to face Josh’s old tormentor Mauricio Lara.
An injury to Wood meant the Lara fight was pushed back to February 2023, by which point Warrington had dropped a majority decision loss to Luis Alberto Lopez.
Lara’s dynamite left hook bailed him out when well behind on the cards against Wood, but the Nottingham man fearlessly pushed for an instant rematch with the Mexican destroyer and put on a May masterclass in Manchester to regain his WBA belt.
It’s been a circuitous route, but on October 7 at Sheffield Arena, 11,000 fans split 50/50 between each fighter will roar them on in a mouthwatering world-title clash. For Wood, Warrington has been in his sights much longer, going back to when he was still labouring to make an impression at domestic level.
“It was maybe five or six years ago,” he told the Sporting News at the launch event for the Warrington fight, doubled up as a 35th birthday celebration with a difference for the champion.
“I wasn't getting fights. Nobody outside my village knew who I was and I was in a restaurant with my friend. I was saying, ‘I’m was 30 years old, I’ve got no money. I'm not where I want to be in boxing'. I’d given my whole life to boxing from 10 years old.
“And he said, ‘Oh, you need to call people out’ because my management wasn't doing anything. It's not really what I do. But he said. ’Call someone out! Who’s the best in your division?’. At the time Josh was No. 1, he was doing really well.
“I was like ‘alright then’. I went on Twitter, did this video and it got about three likes. It’s come full circle, five years later to be defending my world title in a sold-out arena against Josh Warrington.”
Warrington conceded he wasn’t one of the handful of people to engage with a tweet that passed him by completely. In 2018, he was at the top of the mountain having defeated Lee Selby to win the IBF title before a thrilling year-ending triumph over Carl Frampton.
The 32-year-old now heads into a fight with his once-reluctant Twitter troll as the betting underdog. His shock loss to Lara during lockdown and a technical draw as a head clash ruined their rematch took some of the shine off one of British boxing’s most remarkable success stories of the current era.
Defeat to Lopez, who has since emphatically knocked out Wood’s old foe Conlan, heightened the sense of a career on the slide. It is a perception Warrington is chomping at the bit to prove wrong.
“A lot of people have said that I’ve seen better days and I should retire and stuff, but I know I’ve got what it takes to become a three-time world champion.
“Leigh’s a proud man. We’ve seen him climb off the deck and come back to win. That being said, I don’t think he’s boxed someone like myself. If I put him down, he isn’t getting back up, it’s as simple as that. I think I’m on another level.
“This is all part of the journey. It’ll certainly add a few nice chapters to the autobiography when it’s all said and done. I’ve been waiting for so long to get back in. It’s been a massive f****** fire in my belly.”
A world title on the line is all the motivation either man will need on October 7. But as two fine careers that have each overshot all reasonable expectations edge towards their conclusions, this pair of double world champions have a long-standing goal apiece that they want to achieve.
Wood had a clause inserted into his contract for the Warrington bout that stipulates his next fight will be at the City Ground if he gets the win. Warrington has long wanted to reward his loyal and vocal army of Leeds fans with a glamourous away day in boxing’s Mecca of Las Vegas. For whoever loses in Sheffield, the dream dies.
“They don't really like me talking about it because I always say, ‘I think the loser’s bang in trouble’ and it puts extra pressure on,” said Eddie Hearn, who promotes both fighters under the Matchroom banner.
“But let's be honest, both guys are all about big fights and I don't think the big fights are there unless they win. I think that it's absolutely win to win our bust for both guys.”
Wood was ready to make the Lara rematch his last at the weight, with Warrington persuading him to boil his 5ft 7ins frame down to 126 lbs one last time. Wales' IBF super-featherweight champion Joe Cordina, also promoted by Matchroom, might yet be his ticket to a stadium extraveganza.
👀👀👀#WoodWarrington @sn_fights pic.twitter.com/Jb9WHByMLN
— Dom Farrell (@DomFarrell1986) August 1, 2023
Couple that with Warrington’s desire to take his talents Stateside — reigning WBC champion Rey Vargas is top of his wishlist — and it means the WBA featherweight belt will probably be passed on irrespective of the outcome between the two Brits.
The WBA approved Wood’s request to face Warrington on the proviso that the winner will face its mandatory challenger, Uzbek knockout artist Otabek Kholmatov (11-0, 10 KOs), within 120 days, something that does not appear to be on the agenda for either man.
Hearn believes another of his fighters, undefeated American Ray Ford, could face Kholmatov for that belt assuming it becomes vacant in the aftermath of Wood versus Warrington.
“We have Ray Ford, who is in line for that fight and I feel that Kholmatov is a bit unknown as to how good he is,” he added. “He's definitely very good.
“Leigh Wood and Josh come to me with their financial expectation on what they want for a fight and I can’t give them that [Kholmatov] fight, so it’s a bit of a non-starter.”
😅 "There are no drugs in it!"
— Sporting News Fights (@sn_fights) August 1, 2023
🎂 @J_Warrington surprised @itsLeighWood with a birthday cake at their press conference. pic.twitter.com/QLIf23Tcox
There were certainly few unknowns at Tuesday’s launch press conference in Leeds, with Wood and his trainer Ben Davison each keen to support Warrington’s claims that he remains a very fine fighter indeed.
Warrington even presented Wood with a birthday cake, which remained untouched as the venue was cleared – despite Warrington's winking assurances that "there are no drugs in it". Making featherweight is no joke.
It felt in keeping with the minimal trash talk and needle that preceded Terence Crawford’s masterpiece against Errol Spence, which is all very welcome. Still, as is often the case in the ring, the Wood could not resist a couple of well-placed jabs.
“Me and Josh are very similar,” he said. “We carry ourselves quite well, both in with our football clubs, massive support, big set of b******* and a massive heart.
“It’s hard to tell us apart, apart from I punch harder and box better. Apart from that, we’re very similar.”
