Leigh Wood outpoints Josh Warrington in muted Nottingham rematch
Leigh Wood beat josh warrington on points in a rematch at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena that failed to ignite, leaving both men to consider what comes next. The unanimous decision and Wood's post-fight comments have sharpened talk of retirement for one or both fighters.
Scorecards and verdict: clear win but little action
Wood cruised to a unanimous decision with scorecards reading 119-109, 119-109 and 117-111. The judges’ totals reflected a fight observers described as lacking spark; Wood dictated the tempo across 12 rounds while a frustrated, flat-footed Warrington struggled to get his shots away.
Fight details: rounds, moments and the Sheffield backstory
Wood, who stopped Warrington in their first meeting in 2023 in Sheffield, landed almost double the amount of punches in the rematch. Their earlier clash in Sheffield had seen Warrington comfortably in control until a decisive Wood punch in the seventh round ended that contest. In Nottingham, Wood edged a scrappy first round; Warrington replied with a sharp right hook and a straight right in the second. Wood landed a crisp combination in the fifth, and Warrington later drew blood from Wood's nose with a single right.
Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood weigh up futures after the result
The 35-year-old Warrington suggested he may hang up the gloves after a fifth loss in 38 bouts, reflecting on family and the toll of the sport: "It's too tough a game to be turning up for an opponent and being second best, " he said. He added, "I'm a winner. The will to win is always going to be there but when something is missing it's too dangerous of a sport. I'm 35 now, I've got three beautiful kids at home and it's like how much do you keep on giving?"
Wood, 37, a former featherweight world champion who improves to 29 wins with four defeats, hinted this could be his last fight as well: "What a fight to finish on if that is the last one. It's getting harder and harder to be away from my kids. They sacrifice as much as me, " he said. Earlier, Wood had warned about Warrington's view of their first fight, calling his rival "very delusional" and saying he did not think Warrington had watched the first bout back round by round.
Atmosphere, walkouts and the sell-out Motorpoint Arena
The rivalry produced a charged atmosphere in a sell-out 8, 000-capacity arena. The fighters leaned into their football allegiances for the walkouts: Warrington entered to the Leeds United anthem "Marching On Together" which segued into the Kaiser Chiefs' "I Predict a Riot, " while Wood, wearing sunglasses, emerged to Nottingham Forest's "Mull of Kintyre. " The charged crowd underscored why Wood said there is "no better opponent for the atmosphere" and that "after this, I don't know if there'll be an opponent for that. "
Related fight-night results and wider notes from ringside
The card also featured other outcomes: Sandy Ryan became a two-weight world champion by beating Karla Ramos Zamora to claim the WBC light-welterweight belt, and Bilal Fawaz upset Ishmael Davis to win the British and Commonwealth light-middleweight belt. Bobbie Jackson, Keifer MacDonald and ringside reporter Kal Sajad were named in the event coverage. Promoter Eddie Hearn spoke of a "battle" with Dana White and called Conor Benn's exit "a dagger in the heart. "
Peripheral stories: bare-knuckle rise and Claressa Shields' comments
Outside the main event, a documentary on bare-knuckle boxing was highlighted, noting licensed events climbed from 21 bouts in 2015 to more than 1, 000 across 21 countries in 2025. Five-weight world champion Claressa Shields, preparing to defend her undisputed heavyweight status against Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Detroit, said she would not drop weight classes to answer challengers and offered a challenge framed in weights: "If Mikaela and Lauren want to prove their greatness - and I'm willing to give them that chance - then it's 163lb and 165lb. I don't have to prove anything. " She added, "I don't know why these girls think I have to go down two or three weight classes when Terence Crawford went up three weight classes to fight Canelo. "
For now, both Wood and josh warrington leave Nottingham with answers only to themselves: Wood with a clear points victory and the possibility of retirement on the horizon, and Warrington with the question of whether he will continue after his fifth defeat in 38 bouts.
