Leigh Wood Set To Face Josh Warrington On October 7

Matchroom Boxing has announced a clash between WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood (27-3, 16 KOs) and two-time IBF titleholder Josh Warrington (31-2-1, 8 KOs). The bout will take place at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, England on October 7. DAZN will broadcast the event live around the world. A few days following the announcement, a WBO and WBA super welterweight title clash between Terri Harper (14-1-1, 6 KOs) and Cecilia Brækhus (34-2, 9 KOs) was also announced.

To promote the event, two press conferences were held on August 1. The first one was held in Leeds during the afternoon while the second took place in the evening in Nottingham. Below are a few quotes from the press conferences:

Leigh Wood vs. Josh Warrington quotes

Wood

“I don’t take confidence from knowing Lara beat Josh and that I beat Lara. I take confidence in the fact that I know I’m the better fighter. It has taken me so long for me to prove this and I’ve waited a long time for this fight to happen.

“I’ve been goading Josh for years, even sending him videos on Twitter when I was in ’No Man’s Land’ and not getting big fights or really getting a look in. I was in a bad place and didn’t have a promoter. Now we’ve come full circle, where I’m the reigning champion and defending against Josh. It’s quite unbelievable.”

Warrington

“No-one ever thought I’d win a Commonwealth Title, let alone be a two-time World Champion. So why can’t I dream more? Why can’t I dream to be a unified champion? To become a two-weight champion or treat my fans to a Las Vegas fight week?”

“There’s mutual respect, We don’t have to be shouting and screaming or chucking tables at each other to have a barnstormer of a fight.”

Card details

At the time of writing, only two bouts have been announced so far. Wood will be making the first defense of his featherweight title since regaining it from Mauricio Lara in May. It will also serve as his third fight of the year. On the other hand, Warrington makes his first ring appearance of 2023. He last fought in December, losing his IBF featherweight title to Luis Alberto Lopez in a majority decision.

Just before the main event, Harper and Brækhus will finally clash after their initial meeting on May 20 was postponed. Due to the postponement, Harper fought on May 27 in Manchester on the undercard of Lara-Wood II. Like Warrington, Brækhus has also been out of the ring since December. Harper is the current WBA super welterweight champion and will be putting that title at stake. The WBO belt, currently vacant after Natasha Jonas moved down to welterweight, will also be on the line.