When a boxer is known for outlasting opponents and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, it is perhaps only natural that the opponents they have beaten will feel hard done by. It is also natural for them to feel as though they could do better next time and that next time they will avoid the same mistakes.
Leigh Wood, the former WBA featherweight champion, has come to expect this sort of talk from the opponents he has beaten. After all, Wood doesn’t just beat opponents, he often shocks them at the point at which they are settled, feeling good, and confident they are about to win. He is the master of the come-from-behind victory, in other words.
Two examples of this came against Michael Conlan, in 2022, and Josh Warrington, in 2023. Both times Wood was seemingly in danger of losing, yet somehow he landed the necessary shots to make any earlier crisis – and more importantly, the scorecards – irrelevant.
Now, as he prepares to fight Anthony Cacace this Saturday in Nottingham, opponents know what they are going to get from Wood. Cacace knows, and so do Conlan and Warrington, both of whom ended up knowing a little too late. Next time, things will be different, they will say. All they need is another chance.
“I wouldn’t mind giving either of them another shot and a chance for revenge,” Wood, 28-3 (17), told Boxing Scene. “They always have their excuses. Conlan was apparently winning every round until the last one – but the fight was a 12-rounder and I won it in the 12th round. Then you’ve got Warrington saying I finished him with a lucky shot [in round seven] when he was winning the fight. But none of it really matters, does it?
“I think I can do a better job on both of them, to be honest. If they want another shot, that’s fine. If they both fight each other, I’ll fight the winner. I can’t fight them both. I can’t keep giving rematches to people. I don’t have enough time left. I’ll just give the winner of their fight a chance.”
Although nothing has so far been agreed, there has been talk of Conlan and Warrington meeting at some stage this year, with both hungry to launch one final run at a title of some sort. If that were to happen, Wood, 36, will be happy to watch it and reward the winner with an opportunity. He would also have no idea what to expect from the fight.
“I’m unsure,” he admitted. “I probably would have leaned towards Warrington until recently. But after seeing his last fight [against Asad Asif Khan] I’m not too sure anymore. I think it’ll make for a good fight, though.”