By Jake Tiernan: Challenger Josh Warrington will attempt to “steamroll” WBC featherweight champion Leigh Wood this Saturday night, according to Eddie Hearn.
(Photo credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Hearn feels that the former two-time 126-lb champion Warrington (31-2-1,8 KOs) is going to walk through everything that Wood 27-3,16 KOs) to get the win in their bout at Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England.
Wood, 35, has the power advantage, and he’s coming off a win over Mauricio Lara last May in their rematch. However, Wood is old, chinny, and easy to hit.
He likely would have lost the rematch to Lara if he didn’t hold so much, and of course, if he wasn’t fighting at home in front of a large pro-Wood crowd in Manchester.
“I think Leigh Wood has extreme power, has extreme confidence, and he has Ben Davison and the team just making him tick in every way, but Josh Warrington is a tough son of a b***h, and his work rate is unbelievable. I think Josh Warrington’s chin is unbelievable as well,” said Edie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing.
Warrington’s last opponent, Luis Alberto Lopez, has similar power to Wood, and he couldn’t dent his chin. Josh walked through everything that Lopez threw at him and made a fight of it in the championship rounds.
“He’s [Warrington] a winner and has a chance to become three-time world champion. That’s unbelievable. I’ve had the pleasure of working with these guys for a long time.
“When a fighter has a big fanbase, the British hardcore fans almost hold that against them, and they forget about the pedigree of the fighter and what they’ve achieved.
“When you look at Josh, his career has been unbelievable. He beat Leigh Selby at Ellen Road to become world champion. He beat Carl Frampton [in 2018], and people were so high on Carl Frampton at that point. He was boring on the pound-for-pound list.
“He [Warrington] comeback and beat Kiko Martinez [in March 2022]. Even the performance against [Luis Alberto] Lopez was a fight; I thought he was going to edge was a great performance. He is showing no signs, in my opinion, of deterioration or ‘He’s not the same fighter.’ I don’t see that.
“I think Josh Warrington is going to try and walk through him on Saturday night. I think Josh believes Leigh Wood will be out of there within six rounds. I think from the first bell, he’s going to try and steamroll Leigh Wood and try to knock him out.
“I think he’s going to walk on to everything Leigh Wood can handle. I think this fight is a six round fight. It has the potential to go twelve rounds in a back-and-forth war. It’s going to be absolutely electric. When you talk about 10,000 people in Sheffield, half Leeds, half Nottingham. This atmosphere is going to be very, very special,” said Hearn.
