Leigh Wood secures clear points win over Josh Warrington – unanimous decision at Nottingham Arena after tactical masterstroke.
Leigh Wood made it two wins in a row in Nottingham and delivered a composed, tactically disciplined performance in the rematch against Josh Warrington. Wood (29-4, 17 knockouts) secured a unanimous points win with emphatic scores of 119-110, 117-111 and 119-109, meaning Warrington (32-5-1, 8 knockouts) has won just two of his last eight fights – all of his losses have come in the same period.
The two British rivals first faced each other at the Sheffield Arena over two years ago, when the 37-year-old scored a decisive TKO victory in round seven. This time they met at the Nottingham Arena – Wood’s hometown. Since their first clash, both have suffered defeat to Ireland’s Anthony Cacace. Warrington lost on points, Wood was stopped in round nine – it was a bitter defeat for the man from Nottingham, who was now celebrating his comeback at the same venue.
Wood controls the action with jab and counter-attacking
In the first four rounds, the local hero worked effectively behind his right jab and repeatedly used his left hook, while Warrington pressed forward with a high guard. Although Warrington had isolated moments, Wood increasingly found his rhythm and ended the opening phase with a cracking left uppercut. Warrington took the hit well, but had to cling on briefly.
Round five began with Wood in control. He landed a clean combination right at the start. Warrington showed a small rebellion in the middle of the round, but “Leigh-thal” quickly took command again and exploited his opponent’s patchy defense. The picture continued in round six: the Gedlingen-born fighter pulled away on the scorecards. A frustrated flurry of punches from Warrington at the end of the round fizzled out as Wood danced his way out of the danger zone.
In rounds seven and eight, Wood remained the boss in the ring from the back. By round nine at the latest, the fight had become tactically predictable and the rounds flowed into each other. But Wood’s gameplan paid off – he confidently collected the middle rounds. Apart from a slight injury to his nose, he controlled the action at will.
Clear scorecards underline Woods’ dominance
Before the twelfth and final round, DAZN pundit Carl Frampton had rated every single round at 110-99 for Wood – an assessment that was hard to disagree with. Wood also remained dominant in the final round, putting straight hands to the body and dictating the distance. Warrington landed a decent right hand with 15 seconds to go and hinted at a final surge – but it was too little, too late. In the end it was a clear, unanimous points victory for Leigh Wood, who once again proved his supremacy in the British duel and made a strong statement in Nottingham.