Wood is ready to turn on power in title fight
LAST month Ben Davison, the former trainer of Tyson Fury, made a startling revelation about Leigh Wood’s power.
“I swear to God, pound for pound, he is the hardest puncher I’ve ever held the pads for and it came as a bit of a shock, to be honest,” he told IFL TV.
It was eye-catching praise from a man who has worked with some exceptional world champions when the summit of Wood’s ambition is to be among them.
But first there is domestic business to take care of this weekend when he faces Reece Mould for the vacant British featherweight title.
His opponent is undefeated in 13 fights and is widely regarded as a classy and exciting prospect.
But, speaking from the fight camp hotel at Matchroom’s Headquarters, Wood feels the heavy artillery that has stung Davison’s hands will ultimately prove decisive.
“Hearing Ben say that about my power was no shock to me because a lot of trainers who have taken me on the pads have said that I am a big puncher,” he said.
“But there is more to boxing than whacking hard. You need to set it up and surprise people.
“So we’ve studied Reece, we know his strengths and weaknesses and listen, I’m not expecting an easy fight.
“He is dangerous. He is a young, hungry fighter, looking to establish himself. He has a tight guard. He walks you down, he applies pressure constantly.
“But, in saying that, I’m confident of getting the win. Preparations have gone really well. I am punching really hard and I can’t see him hearing the final bell.”
Wood undoubtedly carries the greater experience into this fight, something which many neutrals believe gives him a clear and crucial advantage.
He is six years older than Mould who, at 26, has rapidly accelerated through the ranks but has yet to be taken into deep waters of 12 rounds.
It represents a significant step up in class for the Doncaster fighter, who is
also having to deal with the pressure of how to handle a big domestic title showdown for the first time.
With both men required to stay in the same hotel to protect the event from being impacted by coronavirus, Wood feels Mould has already shown signs of strain.
“He never really wants to talk to me,” he said. “When I am talking to people who he is with, he kind of walks off as if he didn’t know how to handle being around his opponent.
“But that is all to do with experience. He has not done this before.
“Before we did the press conference on Thursday, I went over and put my hand out to him.
“He shook it, but no matter what happens at this point, it’s not going to affect the fight.
“So you can be uptight, be intense and burn as much nervous energy as you want, but it’s not going to make a damn difference until you get in that ring.
“So enjoy fight week. Be relaxed, chilled and suck it up.”
Wood is clearly eager to make amends for his last outing, when he suffered a points defeat to Jazza Dickens in MTK Global’s “Golden Contract” tournament.
That loss ended his chance of going on to fight for a world title and the regrets over the performance still linger.
But having linked up with Davison after splitting from his previous trainer, Ian Grant, there is an expectation that we will see subtle differences in his style this time around.
“In some areas, there will be a big changes so I won’t be circling around the ring all night,” he said.
“I will still be moving just only slightly instead of wasting energy dancing around.
“Now it’s more about ring generalship and not giving ground away, not giving up the centre of the ring.
“Ben is a very good trainer. He’s intelligent and he knows his boxing.
“It’s now all about Saturday night. I’ve wanted to win the British title ever since I was a kid.
“It’s a box I wanted to tick on the way to bigger and better things and it would mean everything to bring it home to Nottingham.”