WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood emerged victorious in the first title defense of his recently-won belt. He faced fellow Brit Josh Warrington on October 7th at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, United Kingdom, in an event promoted by Matchroom. No scorecards were needed for the fight as Wood won his bout in the seventh round by technical knockout (TKO). However, this victory was preceded by Warrington’s own performance, which suggested Wood was actually losing judging by the course of the rounds.
The bout against Josh Warrington (31-3-1, 8 KO’s) served as Leigh Wood’s (28-3, 17 KO’s) first title defense after recapturing the WBA featherweight title in May. Prior to this victory, Wood had suffered a loss to Mexican fighter Mauricio Lara (26-3-1, 19 KO’s) in February, which subsequently made Lara the WBA champion. However, Wood dethroned Lara in their rematch in May.
Warrington presented a similar challenge to Leigh Wood as Lara did, with the British contender also favoring an inside pressure style of fighting, similar to the former Mexican champion.
Similar to Wood’s first match against Lara, his encounter with Warrington proved to be a struggle as Warrington successfully pressured Wood throughout the first half of their twelve-round fight. Wood had difficulty fighting effectively on the backfoot as Warrington chased him down at every turn, clearly not minding the fight being tough, close, and rough as he attempted to bulldoze Wood.
Wood remained resilient despite the pressure but appeared to be losing on the scorecards as he did not counter effectively or show signs of turning the match around. Although he had moments of attack, they were not enough to deter Warrington, who appeared to pack more power in his punches.
By the fifth round, Warrington had clearly buckled Wood at points, landing many punches cleanly, while Wood’s own punches seemed to have little effect. Despite being regarded as the underdog in betting odds prior to the fight, Warrington appeared to be close to victory as the seventh round began, following a sixth round that he may have won.
As he had done previously, Josh Warrington attempted to swarm Leigh Wood in the seventh, which once again proved successful as Wood struggled to assert himself. There were fleeting moments when Wood landed good shots, but they did not appear to deter Warrington, whose blows seemed to carry more power than Wood’s.
In the last ten seconds of the round, Warrington still appeared to be winning the round and the fight overall. However, a series of combination hooks from Wood in the final seconds left Warrington momentarily weak on his feet. With just seconds left on the clock, Wood pounced on Warrington and struck him with another pair of hooks, leading to Warrington’s first knockdown of the match.
Warrington fell, and though he bravely got up to beat the count, he appeared unsteady on his legs. The referee waved off the match after assessing Warrington’s condition, resulting in a technical knockout victory for Wood.
It was a surprising result for a match that Leigh Wood appeared to struggle in, similar to his first match with Mauricio Lara. However, his determination and perhaps Warrington’s fatigue from expending a lot of energy when pressuring Wood helped the WBA champion retain his title after an offensive onslaught.
Despite his recent stunning victory, Leigh Wood may have noted his vulnerability during the match. There is a decent chance that weight cuts have taken a toll on him, suggesting that he may consider moving up a division.
The other significant match was another world title bout between women’s WBA super welterweight champion Terri Harper (14-1-2, 6 KO’s) and former undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Brækhus (37-2-1, 9 KO’s). The two fought at super welterweight in what was initially slated to be a title defense by Harper but eventually involved the vacant WBO title as well.
Unfortunately, the match ended in a majority decision draw, with judges deeming it too close to call. In retrospect, the result appears accurate as the fight between the two women was competitive, and neither fighter managed to outperform the other.
The match was mostly evenly contested and was eventually judged as such, with scores of 95-95 twice and 97-93 in favor of Harper, resulting in an expected but unfortunate conclusion to the fight.
Harper retained her title as a result, though she now has a draw on her record. Brækhus did not win any titles, including the vacant WBO title, and she may have the opportunity for an immediate rematch with Harper to determine the next champion of the division.
Terri Harper now remains the sole champion at 154 lbs with her WBA title, as previous unified champion Natasha Jonas (14-2-1, 9 KO’s) relinquished the other three world titles after moving permanently to the welterweight division following her capture of the IBF welterweight title earlier this year.
The event, promoted by Matchroom, showcased other prospects and world-title contenders at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, and it was broadcasted by DAZN.
