Leigh Wood (boxer)

Leigh Wood (born 1 August 1988) is a British professional boxer who has held the WBA (Regular) featherweight title since July 2021. At regional level he held the British featherweight title from February to August 2021 and the Commonwealth featherweight title in 2019.[2] As of October 2021, Wood is ranked as the world's fourth-best active featherweight by BoxRec,[3] sixth by The Ring magazine,[4] and seventh by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.[5]

Leigh Wood
Statistics
Nickname(s)Leigh-thal
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Reach170 cm (67 in)
NationalityBritish
Born (1988-08-01) 1 August 1988
Gedling, Nottinghamshire, England
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record[1]
Total fights27
Wins25
Wins by KO15
Losses2

Professional career

Wood fought Gavin McDonnell for the British super bantamweight title on 22 February 2014 but loss after the fight was stopped in the 6th round due to Wood being stunned and unable to defend himself. Wood put on an impressive performance and was in control of the fight after winning the first 5 rounds, but prior to the fight Wood had to lose weight for himself to make the weight limit for the fight and after a few rounds Wood was becoming tired. After the loss to McDonnell, Wood had a comeback fight against Martin Mubiru and put in good performance and earned a 3rd-round TKO.

Then after 3 more fights and 3 more wins at featherweight, he stepped up in class to box the man who took his former foe to a draw Josh Wale in a British title eliminator. Wood outboxed Josh Wale for the majority of the fight finishing with last 2 of the 10 rounds with eye catching combinations and powerful right hands, winning the fight unanimously on all 3 scorecards.

Wood's next fight was a redemption fight for the Midlands Area featherweight title against Lee Glover who beat Wood in the Amateurs 7 years prior. Wood came out in the first round pot shooting and making Glover miss before landing some big punches before the bell. The second round went the same way, finally Wood stopping Glover with a big left and perfectly picked flurry of punches, sending Glover to the canvas and not making the count.

On 6 July 2021, it was announced that Wood would challenge WBA (Regular) featherweight champion Xu Can in Brentwood, Essex on 31 July as part of Matchroom's Fight Camp.[6] Despite being an 11/4 underdog,[7] Wood outboxed the champion during periods of the fight, and prevailed with an upset victory via twelfth-round technical knockout.[8]

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
27 fights 25 wins 2 losses
By knockout 15 1
By decision 10 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
27 Win 25–2 Xu Can TKO 12 (12), 2:43 31 Jul 2021 Matchroom Headquarters, Brentwood, England Won WBA (Regular) featherweight title
26 Win 24–2 Reece Mould TKO 9 (12), 1:03 13 Feb 2021 The SSE Arena, London, England Won vacant British featherweight title
25 Loss 23–2 Jazza Dickens MD 10 21 Feb 2020 York Hall, London, England Lost WBO European featherweight title;
The Golden Contract: Featherweight – Semi-final
24 Win 23–1 David Oliver Joyce TKO 9 (10), 2:23 4 Oct 2019 York Hall, London, England Won WBO European featherweight title;
The Golden Contract: Featherweight – Quarter-final
23 Win 22–1 Ryan Doyle KO 10 (12), 1:34 10 May 2019 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England Retained Commonwealth featherweight title
22 Win 21–1 Abraham Osei Bonsu KO 2 (12), 2:43 2 Mar 2019 East of England Arena, Peterborough, England Won vacant Commonwealth featherweight title
21 Win 20–1 Rafael Castillo TKO 3 (6), 1:31 3 Mar 2018 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England
20 Win 19–1 Reynaldo Mora PTS 6 25 Nov 2017 Harvey Hadden Sports Village, Nottingham, England
19 Win 18–1 Simas Volosinas PTS 4 24 Jun 2017 Bingham Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England
18 Win 17–1 Lee Glover TKO 2 (10), 1:06 26 Mar 2016 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England Won vacant Midlands Area featherweight title
17 Win 16–1 Josh Wale PTS 10 24 Oct 2015 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England
16 Win 15–1 Isaac Owusu KO 4 (6), 0:35 25 Jul 2015 Derby Arena, Derby, England
15 Win 14–1 Laszio Fekete TKO 1 (4), 3:00 28 Mar 2015 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England
14 Win 13–1 Janis Puksins TKO 2 (6), 1:29 7 Mar 2015 Mares Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England
13 Win 12–1 Martin Mubiru TKO 3 (8), 1:06 16 May 2014 Rushcliffe Arena, Nottingham, England
12 Loss 11–1 Gavin McDonnell TKO 6 (12), 2:03 22 Feb 2014 Ice Arena, Hull, England For vacant British super-bantamweight title
11 Win 11–0 Simas Volosinas PTS 4 13 Dec 2013 Ice Sheffield, Sheffield, England
10 Win 10–0 Genilson de Jesus Santos RTD 3 (10), 3:00 1 Nov 2013 Clifton Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England Won vacant International Masters super-bantamweight title
9 Win 9–0 Ian Bailey TKO 2 (10), 1:43 22 Jun 2013 Clifton Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England Won vacant British Masters featherweight title
8 Win 8–0 Sid Razak PTS 6 13 Apr 2013 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England
7 Win 7–0 Kristian Laight PTS 4 2 Feb 2013 East of England Arena, Peterborough, England
6 Win 6–0 Tibor Meszaros TKO 1 (6), 1:59 8 Dec 2012 KC Sports Arena, Hull, England
5 Win 5–0 Dai Davies PTS 4 17 Nov 2012 Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, England
4 Win 4–0 Chuck Jones RTD 1 (4), 3:00 28 Sep 2012 Magna Centre, Rotherham, England
3 Win 3–0 Pavels Senkovs PTS 4 18 Feb 2012 Magna Centre, Rotherham, England
2 Win 2–0 Ryan McNicol PTS 4 12 Nov 2011 Event City, Manchester, England
1 Win 1–0 Chuck Jones PTS 6 28 Oct 2011 Clifton Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England

References
  1. "Boxing record for Leigh Wood". BoxRec.
  2. ">"Box Rec". Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  3. "BoxRec: Ratings". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  4. "Ratings". The Ring. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  5. "Rankings – Transnational Boxing Rankings Board". Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  6. Stumberg, Patrick L. (2021-07-06). "Xu Can vs Leigh Wood joins Benn-Granados on July 31st". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  7. Williams, Joe. "Can Xu vs. Leigh Wood fight odds, picks and prediction". The Oshkosh Northwestern. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  8. Christ, Scott (2021-07-31). "Fight Camp results and highlights: Leigh Wood drops and stops Xu Can to take WBA featherweight belt". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
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