Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington ready to settle their two-and-a-half-year dispute

The war of words between rivals Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington looks to continue through fight week as they prepare for their rematch.

Wood won a bitterly-contested thriller in October 2023, falling behind on the cards but then detonating the final blows that spelled the controversial end of the fight.

Warrington claimed he could have gone on and should have been allowed to. Wood took the ‘W’ and moved on.

It looked like the rematch would happen soon, at Nottingham’s City Ground, but instead it festered, as did the rivalry, with the fighters taking shots at one another for the next couple of years.

Wood is 28-4 (17 KOs) and 37 years old.

On Saturday, at Nottingham’s sold-out Motorpoint Arena – two-and-a-half years on – they will fight again in a bout that many consider a retirement bout for whoever loses.

“He [Josh] gets himself into tremendous shape,” said Wood, ready to box in front of his own fans, speaking to Matchroom Boxing’s Make the Days Count series on YouTube.
“He has a great engine and throws a lot of punches. But that gives someone like me great opportunities. We both bring a great crowd. I doubt there’s not another fight in the world that could generate such a crowd from both sides. He [Josh] says he won every round but that’s not happened. He contradicts himself. Was he winning every round? Has he even watched it back? I couldn’t believe the audacity from me when I’ve beaten him. Styles make fights. Whether I lose two rounds, three rounds, it doesn’t matter because I’ve always got that big punch in my locker. I will struggle to do a better job this time but I would like it to be more convincing – and I’d like to do an even quicker job. 


“He can say whatever he wants because on fight night I am going to batter him anyway.”

Neither fighter has deviated from the unflinching belief that they are the better man and both couldn’t be more enthusiastic about proving it.
Warrington, meanwhile, is ready to right what went wrong for him last time. Now 32-4-1 (8 KOs), the 35-year-old, who will bring a substantial following from Leeds, said: “The game plan? Don’t get caught! I like to watch my fights back if I win, but I don’t like to watch them when I’m getting chinned. I went diving in last time against Leigh and it cost me. 
“I’ve been waiting ever since to jump back into this fight – and some two years later, it’s finally arrived. I’ve just got to concentrate on what I do well and stay switched on for every single second. I feel stronger than I ever have been.”