Leigh Wood

Leigh Wood is a two-time and current WBA(Regular) featherweight titleholder and a former WBO European featherweight champion. Starting his professional career in 2011, Leigh Wood has had 30 fights and has a record of 27 wins and 3 losses.

Latest News Update for Leigh Wood

Leigh Wood is set to defend the WBA featherweight championship in his next fight against Josh Warrington on October 7, 2023. The venue for the event is Utilita Arena in Sheffield, England. The main event ring walkouts are scheduled for around 5 pm ET, and the whole event can be streamed online on DAZN.

Leigh Wood Facts

Early Life and Career

Leigh Wood was born on August 1, 1988, in Nottinghamshire, England. The 35-year-old boxer made his professional debut against Chuck Jones on October 28, 2011, and won the bout via PTS in his hometown. For his second and third fights, Wood faced Ryan McNicol and Pavels Senkov on November 12, 2011, and February 18, 2012, respectively. He won both the fights via PTS.

Wood had his first referee technical decision win on September 29, 2012, against Chuck Jones. It was his fourth professional bout that ended at 3:00 in the first round of a four-round bout at Magna Centre, Rotherham in England.

For his fifth bout, Leigh Wood had a PTS win over Dai Davies on November 17, 2012. The four-round bout took place at Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, England. On December 8, 2012, Wood TKO’d Tibor Meszaros at 1:59 in the first round of a six-round bout.

In 2013, Wood has had a total number of 5 boxing matchups. He first faced Kristian Laight on February 2, 2013, and won the bout via PTS in a four-round matchup. Secondly, Wood again had a PTS win over Sid Razak in a six-round bout.

Leigh Wood Championship Bouts

On June 22, 2013, Leigh Wood competed against Ian Bailey for the vacant British Masters featherweight championship. He won the bout via TKO at 1:43 in the second round of a ten-round matchup at Clifton Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England. It was his first-ever ten-round bout.

Secondly, Leigh Wood won the International Masters super-bantamweight title by defeating Genilson de Jesus Santos. Wood had an RTD win over Santos via RTD at 3:00 in the third round. The fight took place on November 1, 2013, at the same Clifton Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England.

However, Leigh Wood had his first professional loss by competing against Gavin McDonnell for the vacant British super-bantamweight title. Even after taking control of the fight against McDonnell in the first five rounds, Wood got tired in the sixth round. Two minutes into the sixth round, Wood was unable to defend himself and got TKO’d.

Moving on, Wood bounced back from losing to McDonnell with a third-round TKO of Martin Mubiru in his next fight. With a five-fight win streak, Leigh Wood competed against Lee Glover for the vacant Midlands Area featherweight title. He won the fight via TKO at 1:06 in the second round on March 26, 2016, at Sheffield Arena in England.

On March 2, 2019, Wood won the vacant Commonwealth featherweight title by defeating Abraham Osei Bonsu via knockout at 2:43 in the second round of a twelve-round bout. The fight took place when Wood was on a professional record of 20 wins and 1 loss. He had defended the title once against Ryan Doyle on May 10, 2019, via a tenth-round knockout win.

Leigh Wood TKO’d David Oliver Joyce on October 4, 2019, and won the WBO European featherweight title. The bout lasted for nine rounds at York Hall in London, England. However, Wood’s second professional loss came from defending the WBO European featherweight title against Jazza Dickens. On February 21, 2020, Wood lost to Dickens via a majority decision.

Furthermore, Wood won the vacant British featherweight title by defeating Reece Mould via a ninth-round TKO. The fight took place on February 13, 2021, at The SSE Arena in London, England.

Leigh Wood won the WBA(Regular) featherweight title on July 31, 2021 from Xu Can. Wood had a technical knockout win over Can in the twelfth round at Matchroom Headquarters in Brentwood, England. He had his first title defense against Michael Conlan on March 12, 2022. Wood TKO’d Conlan at 1:25 in the twelfth round at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, and retained his WBA featherweight title.

Nevertheless, on February 18, 2023, Leigh Wood was TKO’d by Mauricio Laura. Wood lost his WBA featherweight title to Laura in the seventh round at Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England. Their rematch took place on May 27, 2023, at Manchester Arena in Machester, England, where Wood had a unanimous decision win over Laura and won back the WBA featherweight championship.

Leigh Wood Boxing Record

Personal Life

Leigh Wood is a single parent to his daughter and son. Even though Wood keeps his private life away from the public, the champion is fond of posting pictures with his two children on his social media handles. Apart from his children, there is not much information available regarding his marriage or dating life.

When it comes to finance, the champion is estimated to have a net worth of $5 million in 2023, which mainly comes from his professional boxing match-ups, sponsorship, and other endorsements.

*Last updated on October 2, 2023.