Josh Warrington Says He Knows What to Change Against Leigh Wood

Josh Warrington says he understands exactly what went wrong in the first fight and plans to adjust his pressure to avoid the openings that led to his stoppage loss to Leigh Wood

Josh Warrington believes the outcome of his first fight with Leigh Wood came down to a single tactical mistake, and he says correcting that error will determine whether he can reverse the result in their rematch Saturday night in Nottingham.

Warrington controlled long portions of their October 2023 fight before Wood stopped him in the seventh round. He said his team has focused on eliminating the exposure that allowed Wood to land the decisive sequence.

“We did everything we had to do, but obviously left ourselves very open, and he did catch me with a fantastic shot, and then five clean ones after that, and the fight was over,” Warrington said. “That’s how quickly this spot can be changed, but we know what not to do this time around and what to press him a little bit more with, so I’m very, very confident that the fight will go early.”

His comments point to a more measured form of pressure rather than the open exchanges that allowed Wood to capitalize. Warrington said he expects to apply pressure again, but in a way that reduces the chances of being caught clean.

He also dismissed Wood’s suggestion that the rematch could end quicker, saying he does not see major changes Wood can make to produce a different type of finish.

“I can’t really see what Leigh’s going to do differently to make it go quicker because he tried to push me in the first fight,” Warrington said. “We boxed him, we out-fought him. We pushed him onto the ropes, we went on the back foot.”

Warrington enters the rematch looking to even the result after Wood handed him one of the most damaging defeats of his career. The adjustment he makes under pressure will likely determine whether he can regain control or whether Wood’s timing remains the deciding factor again.