Featherweight king Leigh Wood has scoffed at Michael Conlan’s claims it is his destiny to become world champion.
Wood makes his first WBA title defence against Conlan on Saturday at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena, with the Belfast challenger claiming his whole career has been building towards this moment.
Conlan has been tipped for the top since his stellar amateur career when he won Olympic bronze in 2012 and the world amateur championships in 2015.
Read more: Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan press conference LIVE updates from Nottingham
Wood ridiculed such talk of destiny, claiming world titles are won through hard work.
“Destiny?” said the Nottingham fighter. “I don’t believe in destiny. You write your own path. You’ve got to work hard.
“I’ve travelled a long road and worked very hard to get here and I’m not about to roll over for anyone who thinks it’s his destiny to win.”
Wood, 33, who upset Chinese Can Xu to win the WBA belt last July, also dismissed being made the underdog against the Irishman.
He was written off against Xu and says he has spent his whole career battling not just his opponents, but the odds.
Wood, who is 25-2-0 from his 11-year pro career, is a modern-day Cinderella Man and said: “It doesn’t matter to me whether I’m favourite or he’s favourite, I’m going to go in there and do the same job on him like I did with Can Xu.
“I was the underdog in that fight and look what happened.
“I’ve been the underdog for all of my career and I’ve had to fight my way up from the bottom.
“It hasn’t been like that for Conlan.
“I’ve not even looked at the bookies’ odds, I’m just focused on me and doing what I need to do.”
Wood is Nottingham’s most famous boxing son since Carl Froch and jokes he has found it easier to book tables since becoming world champion.
“When my friends want to go to a restaurant or a nice pub and they can’t get in, they drop in my name and they get a table,” he said.
“They ring me up and get me to ask ‘can I have a table please?’.
“They call it clout, don’t they?”
Read more: Michael Conlan treats fans to bizarre magic show during public workout
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