Leigh Wood recovered from an early knockdown to retain his WBA featherweight title with a remarkable 12th-round stoppage of Michael Conlan after a ferocious battle at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.
Topping the bill at his home city, Wood was put on his back by a looping overhand left towards the end of the first round and while he rose on wobbly legs, the 33-year-old was outclassed over the first half of the fight.
But Wood rallied and was starting to find some success as the bout wore on, evening the knockdowns in the 11th – despite Conlan’s protestations of a slip – before delivering a stunning finish in the final round.
A bruising right hand seemed to buckle Conlan before Wood unloaded with a further flurry to back up his opponent, who tumbled between the ropes in what looked like a nasty fall.
Raucous celebrations at a dramatic and conclusive finish muted when it became apparent Conlan was hurt following his tumble from the ring. He was treated by medics and left the arena on a stretcher.
Wood’s promoter Eddie Hearn said on Twitter afterwards: “Update on Michael Conlan..conscious and stable, sitting up and talking and await CT scans.”
It was a worrying end to a fight of the year contender in Wood’s first defence of the crown he won last July by overwhelming then stopping Chinese rival Can Xu – also in the final round.
This seemed a different proposition with Conlan coming into this encounter having won all 16 professional contests following a glittering career in the unpaid ranks, where he claimed Olympic bronze at London 2012 while the Belfast fighter remains Ireland’s only male world amateur champion.
Conlan proved his pedigree in the last few seconds of the opening round in an electric atmosphere. Having switched to a southpaw stance, which he maintained for the remainder of the fight, a thudding left hand found its mark as Wood crashed to the floor.
He was able to get back to his feet but was arguably saved by the bell and he was left hanging on in the second round when another bruising left Wood groping to hang on to Conlan, who was cut over his left eye following an accidental clash of heads.
A sizeable travelling support were in full voice by this stage but Wood started to wrest some of the initiative back in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, as even if Conlan’s slicker work was catching the eye the challenger was repeatedly backed up towards the ropes.
Wood looked to unload towards the end of the seventh before eating yet another spiteful left hand moments before the bell but he had his best round in the eighth, with a nasty right hand seeming to buckle Conlan, whose head was rocked back and led to him staying out of range in the ninth.
Wood was showing little sign of tiring, stalking his foe relentlessly and while he was arguably down on the scorecards, he gave his hopes a nudge in the right direction with a left hand of his own that momentarily floored Conlan, who was soon back to his feet claiming he had merely slipped.
If there was any controversy over the issue, it was rendered a moot point following a climactic end to rival that would have had his fellow Nottingham fighter Carl Froch purring. Froch himself had many standout moments at this venue but this topped the lot – even if Wood (now 26-2, 16KOs) felt unable to celebrate in the immediate aftermath.
“First of all I just hope Michael is all right; I can’t celebrate until I know he is all right,” Wood told Dazn.
“He is so tough and it was a bad knockout so I just want to see he is all right.”
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