Wood overcomes shaky start to stop Conlan at the final hour.

                                 

Nottingham’s WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood 26-2 (16 KOs) came from behind in an extraordinary fight to score a spectacular twelfth round KO over former Irish Olympian Michael Conlan 16-1 (8 KOs) last night on home soil at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.

Conlan established himself early in the bout scoring a heavy knockdown at the end of the opener, with the title holder being saved by the bell to end the session. Conlan continued to dominate Wood, landing frequently with clever counters and finding his mark with the lead left hook that dropped the champion early. The gritty Wood closed the distance in the middle rounds and found done success at close range, forcing Conlan to fight his fight. Conlan hurt Wood to the body in the late rounds but the champion responded equally to force the challenger onto the back foot. In round 10 Wood appeared to break through with a barrage of hurtful shots, leaving Conlan looking despondent for the first time in the bout, referee Steve Grey unfortunately interfered in the action and allowed Conlan off the hook. The 11th saw Wood score a knockdown which the visiting corner contested was a slip, regardless Conlan appeared to be comfortably leading and just needed to coast the final session. In a remarkable final round Leigh Wood took the initiative to force Conlan back to the ropes and apply constant pressure, as the challenger appeared to slip shots against the ropes Wood clipped him with a cluster of punches, forcing an exhausted Conlan to fall unconscious out of the ring. The time was 1:25.

Wood appeared to be a long way behind throughout the bout, but was surprisingly only a handful of points trailing at the time of stoppage. 104-103, 105-102, 104-103 on the official scoresheets. 

The conclusion of the bout saw Conlan attended to by medics as a precaution and later rushed by ambulance to the hospital.

BBB of C downgrade Ian John Lewis’ officiating status following review.

                              
The British Boxing Board of control have reviewed the recent controversial scoring of the Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall world title bout and called ringside official Ian John Lewis to explain his erratic 114-111 scorecard. Following the review the BBB of C have decided to downgrade John Lewis’s officiating status from A Star Class to A Class official. The board did have issue with the margin of Ian’s scorecard but didn’t think that the scorecard affected the overall result of the contest. The board of control have decided to evaluate the performance of each A star official after every bout in addition to each officials annual review in an attempt to maintain a high standard of consistency amongst British officiated bouts. The board have recommended to each of the governing bodies that Jack Catterall be instated as mandatory challenger for each of their respective titles. 

Michael Marley passes.

                                  

Sad news for the boxing world as former established writer, boxing manager and highly regarded fight sage Michael Marley passed away Wednesday at his Cape Cod home. Marley was an all rounder who before embarking on boxing management made a name for himself, writing first for the Las Vegas Sun, then earning a spot as a columnist for the New York post. Michael boxed briefly as an amateur whilst studying at UNR and loved the sport ever since starting the Cassius clay fan club as a 12 year old boy. Michael moved into boxing management in the early 1990s when he turned a charismatic yet raw young heavyweight called Shannon Briggs into a household name with his own unique style of public relations. Mike would manage several other successful fighters over the next 20 years including Orlin and Terry Norris, Robert Garcia and Nigerian heavyweight King Ipitan before turning his attention to a career as a practicing attorney alongside working as head of public relations for Don King Productions. Michael was a likeable and personable man who adored boxing and boxing personalities of all types. Marley had been privately battling Parkinson’s syndrome and was 72 years of age, his passing is a real loss to our sport.