Leigh Wood retained the WBA featherweight title on Saturday night in the most remarkable of boxing contests, sending Michael Conlan through the ropes in the final round after climbing off the canvas himself in the first frame.
There was plenty of support for home fighter Wood at the Nottingham Arena, and the champion started impressively by intermittently landing spiteful hooks to the body of Conlan, but the fight looked set to be short lived when the challenger floored Wood on the bell at the end of Round 1.
Conlan looked low but threw a left hand over the top to send Wood crashing to the canvas, and the resilience required by the Englishman to make it back to his feet and into Round 2 was only built upon as the bout progressed.
Conlan, who sustained a cut due to an accidental clash of heads, rocked Wood with a heavy left hook in the second round, leaving the champion desperately hanging on.
Olympic bronze medalist Conlan boxed smartly throughout the next few rounds, picking his shots wisely with his back against the ropes, as Wood found occasional success to the body of his undefeated opponent but increasingly looked to be forcing punches and chasing Conlan.
Southpaw Conlan had begun the fight standing orthodox but was switching back and forth between stances, frustrating Wood, who suffered a cut around his eye in similar fashion to his challenger.
Conlan was stunting any momentum that Wood could create, but the hometown fighter continued to press forward valiantly.
Wood, 33, put together his best spell late in Round 10, somehow rallying to the body of Conlan after eating a series of bruising left hooks.
The champion then scored a debatable knockdown of his 30-year-old opponent – who believed he had simply slipped – in the 11th frame.
Again the moment came against the odds, with Conlan having put Wood under immense pressure just moments earlier and having seemed to be on the verge of a finish.
The enthralling contest came to a head early in the 12th and final round, when Wood sent Conlan tumbling through the ropes with a vicious knockout.
The Englishman’s wild celebrations quickly turned into muted ones, as Wood and his trainer Ben Davison urged a chaotic crowd to calm down and allow paramedics to tend to Conlan.
The Irishman was fitted with an oxygen mask and taken out of the arena in an ambulance, with Wood saying: “I hope Michael’s alright. I can’t really celebrate yet until I know Michael’s alright. I just can’t get Mick off my mind.”
Broadcaster DAZN later said Conlan had been transported to hospital in an ambulance, with Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith clarifying that the Irishman was “conscious and stable”.
The result, which marked Wood’s first defence of his featherweight title, took the hometown fighter’s record to 26-2 (16 KOs), while Conlan (16-1, 8 KOs) suffered the first defeat of his professional career.
Full card results
Leigh Wood (C) def. Michael Conlan (WBA featherweight title)
Caoimhin Agyarko (C) def. Juan Carlos Rubio (WBA International middleweight title)
Terri Harper def. Yamila Belen Abellaneda (vacant WBA Intercontinental women’s lightweight title)
Gary Cully vs Miguel Vazquez (lightweight)
Erica Anabella Farias def. Sandy Ryan (super-lightweight)
Thomas Whittaker-Hart def. Simon Krebs (light-heavyweight)
Thomas Carty def. Michal Boloz (heavyweight)
Nico Leivars def. Jose Hernandez (featherweight)
