Leigh Wood Overcomes Josh Warrington!

Josh Warrington fell just short of greatness against Leigh Wood, but that doesn't mean that his performance was lackluster. Josh Warrington is one of the best fighters on the planet, and he proved it against Leigh Wood on October 7th. On a weekend that featured Zurdo Ramirez and Joe Smith Jr. battling for cruiserweight supremacy, Wood and Warrington put on a true boxing classic for the British crowd. In classic Leigh Wood fashion, he came from behind to win in spectacular knockout fashion, but it was Warrington's willingness to come forward and brawl that created the incredible result. Warrington managed to hurt Wood to the body and to the head with lethal left and right shovel hooks, applying physical pressure during and after his combinations.

Several times throughout the 7-round featherweight world title contest, Wood found himself pressed against the ropes. This is because of Warrington's ability to chase his opponent around the ring, an ability I praised Canelo Alvarez for last week. Once again, cutting the ring off is an important part of a boxer's offensive playbook. The only difference between Warrington and Canelo in this regard is head movement. Before Canelo throws any shot, he'll peek his head slightly out of the guard and move his head off the line. Sometimes, he'll throw a feint to bait his opponent into throwing a shot while he moves off the line. Neither of these offensive weapons were in Warrington's arsenal on the night. Warrington took his head off the center line when he was on the outside, but before and after throwing shots he didn't move his head very much.

Warrington was committing to his shots, he fell in love with throwing and landing, and that can provide an opening that your opponent might need. A very hurt and wobbled Wood was able to find that opening and landed a devastating right hook. As Warrington reeled from the shot, Wood blasted him with a left hook, stepped back to allow himself proper space for a power shot, delivered another crushing right hook, another left, and as Warrington's knees crumbled, a final left to ensure he wouldn't get up. The first shot generated a massive roar from the crowd, and the combination was what set them alight. Wood rejoiced with the boisterous crowd as he defended his WBA Featherweight Championship of the world, and the boxing world showed support for the triumphant champion.

Leigh Wood can rest easy in the meantime, as his spot at the top of the division has been secured with his victory over Josh Warrington. While he heals up after this back-and-forth contest, it doesn't hurt to look to the future and wonder what's next. The featherweight division is his for the taking currently, with belts scattered around the world. Brandon Figueroa sits just below Wood at the number two spot in the featherweight division. Figueroa also carries a WBC Interim Championship that he won after defeating Mark Magsayo back in March. The current WBC Featherweight Champion is Rey Vargas, so it's definitely time for him to defend or vacate. Ideally, a fight between Figueroa as Interim or full WBC champion and Wood would do great numbers. Obviously, this might be difficult considering both men are on opposite "sides of the street", with Figueroa currently signed to Premier Boxing Champions, and Wood signed to DAZN/Matchroom. The WBO Featherweight Championship is currently held by Robeisy Ramirez, who has been on a tear recently on Top Rank with wins against Satoshi Shimizu, Isaac Dogboe, and Jose Romero.

Again, a unification might be difficult because he is signed to a different promotion. Luis Alberto Lopez, the IBF Featherweight Champion, is also signed to Top Rank. The only champion left is Hector Andres Sosa, who last fought against James "Jazza" Dickens for the IBO Featherweight Championship on Disrupt Promotions in Saudi Arabia. The title picture at featherweight is incredibly troubling. Only two of the five champions share a common promotion, and the WBC has both a World Champion and an Interim Champion. The hopes of Leigh Wood unifying are high, but with such a heavily divided set of belts how can he make it happen without putting his career on hold for too long? The boxing community will have the answer soon.