How to watch Leigh Wood vs Josh Warrington
'Leigh-thal Leigh' vs 'Warrior Warrington'
BBN have provided viewers with all the details below to tune in and watch champion Leigh Wood (27-3, 16KO) defend his WBA black belt to challenger Josh Warrington (31-2-1, 8KO) on the 280th day of the year, headlining a packed Matchroom Boxing event.
Fight Details
Date: Saturday, October 7
Time: Doors open 4:30pm, first fight from 4:45pm, main card from 7pm
Venue: Utilita Arena in Sheffield
Rounds: 12 rounds at featherweight (126lbs)
Titles: Wood's WBA World featherweight title
Ringwalks: From 10pm UK time approx.
Undercard Highlights: Terri Harper vs Cecilia Braekhus for the WBA and WBO World super-welterweight titles
How to Watch
TV & Live Stream: Action starts at 4:45pm on Before the Bell show on DAZN
Main Event: Watch the main card at 7pm on DAZN, which can be streamed via phone, tablet, PlayStation, XBox, or smart TV.
Tickets: Tickets priced from £46.95 available HERE
Live Reports: BBN will be providing LIVE round-by-round results on fight night HERE
Background
Two-time world featherweight champion Leigh Wood makes the first defence of his WBA belt having regained it from Mauricio Lara in May, just three months after being stopped in the seventh round by the hard-hitting Mexican, avenging a devastating defeat impressively.
The defending champion, 35 from Gedling, Nottinghamshire, fell short at British level twice before earlier in his career, but in his last five fights, now trained by Ben Davison, he has become British champion on his second attempt and World champion twice.
WBA #7 Josh Warrington is also a former British and two-time world champion. His first stint was highly impressive, winning the IBF strap from Lee Selby in 2018, then defending against Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad when both were a real force in boxing still. His third defence to lesser competition Sofiane Takoucht ended in a quick second-round demolition job.
But then his impressive 30-fight streak came to an end against unheralded Mexican menace Mauricio Lara when they fought behind closed doors in 2021. Undefeated Warrington was smashed from pillar to post by the powerful visitor, suffering a knockdown early in the fight, in the fourth round, but bravely fought on until the inevitable ninth round ending. They rematched seven months later to a disappointing, unconclusive technical decision draw due to cut sustained by Lara in the second round.
Warrington managed to regain his IBF prize with a strong seventh round stoppage over defending champion Kiko Martinez in 2022, with a dominant performance. However, he conceded it to Luis Alberto Lopez in his first defence nine months later in December last year, meaning he has only won once in four years.
Wood has won four from his last five fights and avenged the one defeat during that time, so, in terms of form, these two are at opposite ends of the scale.
Quotes
Leigh Wood: “In the Lara rematch I felt sharp in between my ears and physically. I feel those fights, with tiny little breaks while still training, has put me in a good position.
“Obviously I wanted this fight to happen at the City Ground. That was my dream – and still is. That being said, we are meeting halfway in Sheffield, at the Utilita Arena, and it is going to make for an unbelievable atmosphere with a 50/50 split down the arena.
“I’ve done that before, of course, when I fought Michael Conlan. The walkouts then were something special and, of course, this time we’ve both got even bigger followings, in a bigger arena and we have BOTH of our football clubs behind us too. I can’t wait to soak up the atmosphere. I know it will be quite hostile with both sets of fans battling it out vocally, but it should make for a great night.
“I don’t take confidence from knowing Lara beat Josh and that I beat Lara. I take confidence in the fact that I know I’m the better fighter. It has taken me so long for me to prove this and I’ve waited a long time for this fight to happen.
“I’ve been goading Josh for years, even sending him videos on Twitter when I was in ’No Man's Land’ and not getting big fights or really getting a look in. I was in a bad place and didn’t have a promoter. Now we’ve come full circle, where I’m the reigning champion and defending against Josh. It’s quite unbelievable.”
Josh Warrington: “I feel great. I feel mentally at my peak. Physically, I know that I now need to have one or two more days off than I used to have, because I understand the importance of rest now. I used to be able to train 20 times a week, but my dad said that I need to slow down. That’s one of the things that you learn from experience.
“My boxing brain has developed a lot over the years and perhaps I’ve been considered the older fighter out of the two of us because I’ve been in the big fights for such a long time, headlining shows for the past 10 years and being on the world stage for knocking on six years.
“Look at my last fight, I lost by a majority decision but I thought I had done enough. If that went my way I would have been walking away as champion.
“I will be firing on all cylinders October 7th and when I get the win people are going to be saying, ‘Warrington’s back to his best’. It’s the nature of our boxing fans I guess.“Yes, it would be. If I get to the end of my career and I’ve not achieved that, then I would be a little disappointed. I genuinely have supporters who have credit cards ready to go and they have for a long time. If I get through this fight, then that’s what I will be pursuing.”
Predictions
Sunny Edwards IBF World flyweight champion
"Josh, you can never write off. Before he even made it everyone was trying to write him off, every fight – Lee Selby, Carl Frampton.
"Leigh Wood probably goes in as the more fresher, more favourable. One thing Leigh is very good at is getting to the edge of range, throwing long levers, powerful, but at the same time I think he gets to round seven/eight in a hard fight and he's quite spent. And Josh keeps going and going, he's rough, he's rugged, and there'll probably cuts and elbows flying in.
"I think it'll be a great fight and a great atmosphere, but I'll probably lean towards Leigh Wood, more on the last few performances, but you can never write Josh Warrington off. If you could bottle heart and sell it, you'll make a killing off Josh."
Betting Odds (Betway Sports)
2/5 Wood
21/10 Warrington
14/1 Draw
Fight Week Schedule
Wednesday, October 4
Public Workout 5:30pm
Memorial Hall, Sheffield City Hall, Barkers Pool, Sheffield S1 2JA
Thursday, October 5
Final Press Conference 1pm
The Cutlers' Hall, 7-15 Church Street, Sheffield, S1 1HG
Friday, October 6
Public Weigh-In 1pm
The Cutlers' Hall, 7-15 Church Street, Sheffield S1 1HG
Running Order
4:45pm Live on Before the Bell
Koby McNamara vs Francisco Rodriguez
6×3 Lightweight contest
Cameron Vuong vs Engel Gomez
6×3 Super-featherweight contest
Nico Leivars vs Ryan Walker
8×3 Super-bantamweight contest
7pm Live on DAZN
Junaid Bostan vs Corey McCulloch
8×3 Super-welterweight contest
Hopey Price vs Connor Coghill
12×3 Featherweight contest
Kieron Conway vs Linus Udofia
12×3 WBA Inter-Continental middleweight title
Chief Support 9pm approx.
Terri Harper vs Cecilia Braekhus
10×2 WBA/WBO World super-welterweight title
Main Event 10pm approx.
Leigh Wood vs Josh Warrington
12×3 WBA World featherweight title
Article sponsored by HÖRFA