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WBA featherweight king Leigh Wood 25-2 (15) is determined to hold onto his crown when he meets Michael Conlan 16-0 (8) at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England on Saturday night.
The 33-year-old Brit dethroned China’s Xu Can 18-3 (3) in an upset last July when he stopped the reigning champion in the 12th round after outboxing him for much of the fight. The scores at the time of the stoppage were 106-103 and 107-102 twice, all for Wood.
Wood sees 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist Conlan as someone who has been gifted an easy path to a world title fight.
“I’ve earned everything off my own back the hard way,” said Wood in January. “In my opinion, I don’t think Mick’s ever been in a 50/50 fight, this is new for him, but I’ve come through those challenges. I’ve been in the bookies not favourite and come out the other side from a pressure point of view…
“I’ve been there before, in fights in my career, in my life. I’ve not had a promoter, anyone steering me in the right direction, I’ve not had my dad taking me to the gym from a young age. I walked in the gym on own at 10, 11 years old and it takes a lot to do that, to get to this point on my own.
“I’ve got here on my own with pure determination and grit, resilience and refusal to give up and that’s what it’s going to take to come through this fight and that’s what I do.”
Northern Ireland’s Conlan, 30, says he is ready to face Wood in his own backyard.
“It’s fantastic, it’s something I have craved since I turned professional,” Conlan told The Ring. “These are things my father has been wanting me to do. It’s the first thing he said when this fight was announced, that he wanted it to be in Nottingham.
“I wanted it to be in New York, but my father said, ‘Nope, I want us to go to his back garden, take it off him, and do it the right way.’ It’s history and legacy. This stuff stands out more and makes better sense.”
“I’m looking forward to getting in there and I’ll hear some boos. I won the world championships and big medals in opponent’s back gardens. These things don’t really make a difference to me. I’m not too worried about. It’s all part of the game.”
Conlan said in January that he knows he is in for a fight.
“He’s very good,” Conlansaid. “You don’t become world champion being average. You have to be very good.
“I think it’s a tough challenge. He’s a big guy for the weight; strong, good punch selection, good power, good speed. All around he’s a very solid fighter. I’ve got to be on my ‘A’ game to beat this kind of guy.
“I can beat anyone in the world including Leigh Wood. I have many answers for everything he can do.
“One thing I think they’re banking on is that he’ll knock me out, but I’ve never been knocked out in my life, so that’s a longshot for them.”
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