Leigh Wood Dominates in Rematch with Josh Warrington at Nottingham Arena
Leigh Wood delivered a clear points victory over josh warrington in a rematch at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, closing a rivalry that began with a 2023 stoppage. The result settles the immediate feud and reshapes expectations for both former world champions.
Leigh Wood secures wide unanimous decision
Wood won a lopsided judges’ verdict after a contest that many described as short on action. The three scorecards read 119-109, 119-110 and 117-111 in favour of the Nottingham fighter; another account listed the same totals as 117-111, 119-110 and 119-109. Wood did not replicate the knockout finish from their 2023 fight but dominated proceedings and took a clear unanimous decision in front of his hometown crowd.
Speaking after the fight Wood said, "I worked hard for this and my team worked hard, " and added, "I'm not going to make a decision tonight but if it is the last one, what a fight to go out on. " The win repeats the outcome of their first meeting, when Wood scored a comeback knockout.
Josh Warrington and the rematch narrative
The rematch paired two former world champions who had not been consistently active: Wood has fought only once since his 2023 victory over Warrington, while josh warrington had not fought since a win over Asad Asif Khan around ten months earlier. Expectations before the fight were coloured by age and recent form — Wood was noted as 37 and Warrington as 35 — and bookmakers had suggested the contest might not go the distance, with backing for an early finish and specific odds indicating a stoppage was considered plausible.
Warrington entered the bout having lost three of his previous four fights, with those defeats coming to Wood, Luis Alberto Lopez and Anthony Cacace. Wood, meanwhile, had shown vulnerability in a recent nine-round outing against Cacace, a factor that fed into pre-fight speculation about durability and the likely course of the rematch.
Sandy Ryan becomes two-weight world champion
On the same Nottingham card, Sandy Ryan beat Karla Ramos Zamora by majority decision to claim a WBC title at a new weight. One set of judges had the 10-round contest level at 95-95, but Ryan took the other two cards 97-93 to win the belt. Coverage described Ryan as having become a two-weight world champion and referred to the WBC title in two ways: as the super-lightweight title and, in other mentions, as the light-welterweight belt.
Ryan's victory followed two successive world-title losses to Mikaela Mayer across 2024 and 2025, and the comeback at a new weight restored her to champion status.
Bilal Fawaz, David Allen and Molly McCann among undercard winners
Bilal Fawaz added the British and Commonwealth domestic honours to his story after a majority decision over Ishmael Davis. The judges returned 114-114, 115-114 and 115-113 after 12 rounds, giving Fawaz the British and Commonwealth titles at what coverage variously named light-middleweight and super-welterweight.
Fawaz's personal background was highlighted: stateless, trafficked to the UK as a child and forced to work in a household before escaping into social care, he then fell through the system at 18 and went on to pursue boxing despite those hardships.
Doncaster heavyweight David Allen also returned with a first-round stoppage, dropping Karim Berredjem twice to force a finish. UFC convert Molly McCann recorded her third professional boxing victory, a six-round points decision over Beata Dudek scored 60-55, and is slated next to fight on the Liverpool undercard of Callum Smith versus David Morrell.
Card timing, broader context and additional notes
The Nottingham event at the Motorpoint Arena was scheduled on Saturday, February 21, with a listed start time of 7pm local and a main-event ring walk around 10: 30pm; the night formed part of a wider evening of top-class boxing that also included an event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the same date with different listed start times. That Las Vegas show features Mario Barrios defending the WBC welterweight title against Ryan Garcia, a matchup that drew separate betting interest and preview attention.
Elsewhere on the night, commentary included promoter Eddie Hearn describing a "battle" with Dana White and calling Conor Benn's exit a "dagger in the heart. " Ringside reporting was credited to Kal Sajad, with bylines also including Bobbie Jackson and Keifer MacDonald. The overall broadcast partner for the Nottingham card was listed as DAZN.
A broader note from the same coverage highlighted a growing interest in bare-knuckle boxing: licensed events were said to have risen from 21 bouts in 2015 to more than 1, 000 across 21 countries by 2025. In a separate interview excerpt, five-weight world champion Claressa Shields was preparing to defend undisputed heavyweight status against Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Detroit and commented on future matchups, suggesting fights at 163lb and 165lb with Lauren Price and Mikaela Mayer, and noting that she did not feel the need to drop multiple weight classes to make a fight — referencing Terence Crawford moving up three weight classes to fight Canelo as context.
What makes this notable is how a night built around revenge and narratives instead produced a routine, wide points win that still closed a chapter on a notable domestic rivalry while elevating other fighters on the card into new chapters of their own careers.
