WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood will defend his recently-won title against fellow British contender Josh Warrington. The two will fight on Saturday, October 7th, in a bout scheduled for twelve rounds at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield. In the press conference held for their fight, Wood did not hold back in mentioning some of the faults in boxing training as it pertains to the UK (United Kingdom) ― and particularly UK trainers.
Leigh Wood’s (27-3, 16 KO’s) last match was on May 27th, in which he regained the WBA featherweight title after facing Mauricio Lara (26-3-1, 19 KO’s) a second time. In their first match earlier this year in February, Lara achieved a slightly controversial stoppage win over Leigh Wood, which the Brit eventually avenged.
Prior to Wood’s third career loss to Lara, Wood had reigned as champion for around two years, defending his title twice between 2021 and 2022.
Wood’s ascent to become a two-time world champion showcases remarkable feats of determination and passion, culminating in his dedication to his elite-level skills. He is now considered one of the best featherweights on the planet, a status he will look to prove against Josh Warrington (31-2-1, 8 KO’s) this upcoming Saturday.
In the pre-fight press conference for their upcoming bout, Wood highlighted that the core of boxing lies in the skillset of a fighter, not just their power.
“I don’t think power will be the key to victory, but I have it if I need it,” Wood remarked during the press conference after a question posed by Eddie Hearn, his promoter (Matchroom), who was also acting as the MC during the presser.
“Power probably won’t be the deciding factor on Saturday night.” Wood maintained.
“There are a lot more things that revolve around it, and people, especially the culture of the trainers in this country, are like, ‘whoever wants it more will win, whoever is the strongest and hits the hardest will win’.
“It’s a load of nonsense, and as my team is slowly coming and changing the game, there’s a lot more to boxing than what people see.“
While each trainer and gym in the UK differs in their methods of boxing training, Leigh Wood’s sentiment surrounding the standards of boxing training in the country was mirrored by his own trainer, Ben Davison, last year when he remarked that boxing coaching in the UK was “not good enough”.
As referenced earlier, Leigh Wood is often known for his skills, while Josh Warrington has always had power as a determinant factor in fights.
Ironically, Wood has more than twice the KO ratio as Warrington, whose KO rate is approximately 26%. It should be noted that the promoter of both fighters, Eddie Hearn, was the one to supply this narrative of skill (in Wood’s case) vs. power (Warrington) during the press conference.
In reality, Wood’s own power is clearly not diminutive compared to Warrington’s, judging by their KO ratios, and as Leigh Wood explained, it will likely be the winner’s skillset that determines the fight.
Judging by the press conference, the two featherweights seem ready to prove which one of their best traits can be the deciding factor on October 7th at the Sheffield Arena in what will certainly be one of the UK’s best matchups.
Further supplementing the fight card will be the title match between the women’s WBA super welterweight champion Terri Harper (14-1-1, 6 KO’s) from the UK and Norwegian challenger (and former undisputed welterweight champion) Cecilia Brækhus (37-2, 9 KO’s). The WBO super welterweight title that last belonged to Natasha Jonas (14-2-1, 9 KO’s) will also be made available for their fight as a vacant title.
