Josh Warrington believes he was “let down” by the referee after he fell to stunning knockout defeat against Leigh Wood.
Challenging for Wood’s WBA featherweight world title in a hugely-anticipated all-British fight, Warrington made a superb start in Sheffield and caused the champion real problems in the opening rounds.
This was Warrington’s first fight since losing his IBF crown to Luis Alberto Lopez last December, a defeat that continued what has been a below-par run of performances over the last few years.
He was well on course to become a three-time world champion here though, up on all three of the cards when Wood produced a brutal flurry of shots out of nowhere in the seventh round to send Warrington crashing to the canvas.
He beat the count to rise to his feet but the bout was waved off by referee Michael Alexander, much to the 32-year-old’s frustration.
“I’ve been out of the ring for 10 months, I felt at times I was really coming into it,” Warrington told DAZN.
“He caught me with a good shot, I felt good, I listened to the count six, seven, eight and then he [the referee] waves off the fight. I’m disappointed, I feel let down. I don’t feel he’s done me justice. The stoppage is what it is on the record.”
On his desire for a rematch, he added: “Ideally, I’d like to run it back. I felt like I was cruising and at times I was a little rusty but it was a good fight.”
Wood is a two-time world champion himself, though there was talk in the build-up to the fight of him moving up from featherweight.
That appeared to be a necessary move for much of this bout, Wood sluggish and struggling to respond to the intensity coming from the other side of the ring.
Warrington had a point deducted early in the seventh round for punches to the back of the head, though that did little to slow him down as he continued to dominate the bout. It was Wood though who had the final say in remarkable fashion.
“Josh is very tough, hit me with some very good shots,” Wood said. “Josh is a very good fighter. All I can say is I’ve got game changers.
“I knew the further fight went on, the sloppier he gets. I didn’t stick to the game plan well, I got disorientated after getting hit in the back of my head.”
Wood has propelled himself to the top of the division over the last two years with wins over Xu Can, Michael Conlan and most recently Mauricio Lara, when the Nottingham man reclaimed his WBA title.
It remains to be seen whether Wood does move up in division for his next bout, with the focus less on weight and more on securing a fight at the City Ground, home of his beloved Nottingham Forest.
“I need a little break,” he said when asked about his future plans.
“We’ll wait until the end of the football season and we know what’s next don’t we?”
