Leigh Wood made it two wins in two with a measured performance in a rematch with Josh Warrington tonight in Nottingham.
Wood (29-4, 17 KOs) claimed the unanimous-decision victory with wide scorecards of 119-110, 117-111 and 119-109. Warrington (32-5-1, 8 KOs) has now only won twice in his last eight fights, with all his defeats coming during that period. The British rivals first collided at Sheffield Arena well over two years ago, with Wood claiming a decisive seventh-round stoppage victory. This time round, the pair met at the Nottingham Arena in Wood’s hometown.
Since their last meeting, both had tasted defeat at the hands of Ireland’s Anthony Cacace, Warrington by unanimous decision, and to Wood via a ninth-round stoppage. Warrington did return with India’s Asad Asif Khan with a wide decision win. It was Wood’s first return since the devastating Cacace loss at this evening’s venue.
After a quiet opening round, Wood caught Warrington coming forward with a hook on the inside, forcing a smile from the recipient. Wood looked comfortable throwing from the waist; however, Warrington would land a straight right hand to the head as the round closed.
In the third and fourth rounds, Wood continued working behind his right jab and left hook as Warrington pushed forward with a high guard. Warrington was having small moments of success, but Wood had found some rhythm, marking an end to the period with a big left uppercut. Warrington took it well but had to hold on for a moment.
The fifth started with Wood in control, landing a combination in the opening minute. Warrington did have a slight resurgence halfway through the round, but Wood took back control, taking advantage of a limited defence. The same theme continued into the sixth as Wood appeared to be pulling away on the scorecards. Warrington threw a frustrated combination as the round closed, which Wood danced his way through.
Wood stayed in control off the backfoot through rounds seven and eight. By round nine, the fight had become far too predictable as the rounds merged into one. However, Wood’s tactics were paying dividends, cleaning up the middle rounds. Other than a slight cut to the nose, Wood was cruising.
Things got a little scrappier in the tenth with Wood looking to load up and land some big left hands, but he couldn’t quite hit the target. Wood reverted to the style that had served him more successfully in round eleven, reverting a little more to body shots behind a busy jab.
Going into the twelfth and final round, DAZN pundit Carl Frampton had scored every round in favour of Wood at 110-99. I found it hard to disagree. Wood maintained his dominance to start the session, landing some straight shots to the body. Warrington showed a brief glimpse of a resurgence with a decent right hand with 15 seconds on the clock. Ultimately, Warrington put it best himself, saying after the fight, “I was off the pace.”
Leigh Wood vs Josh Warrington Undercard Results
In the chief support, a new British and Commonwealth super welterweight champion was crowned, with Bilal Fawaz snatching the belts off Ishmael Davis by majority decision. The fight was a close encounter as Davis (15-4, 6 KOs) pressed from the outset, with Fawaz (11-1-1, 3 KOs) struggling to find his range. However, as the fight progressed, Davis couldn’t maintain the same amount of pressure as Fawaz started to find the target and maintain his own rhythm. The scorecards reflected the fight well: 115-113, 115-114, and 114-114 to give Fawaz the win on his Matchroom debut.
Sandy Ryan became a two-weight world champion by securing the vacant WBC super lightweight title with a majority decision victory against Karla Ramos Zamora. The judges scored 97-93 x2 for Ryan (9-3-1, 3 KOs), and one card had it 95-95.
Heavyweight Dave Allen (25-8-2, 20 KOs) returned to winning ways with a first-round knockout against the little-known Karim Beeredjem (12-11, 3 KOs). Another heavyweight in prospect, Leo Atang (5-0, 5 KOs) also claimed a first-round stoppage against Dan Garber (11-7, 2 KOs).
Discover more from Fights Around The World
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
