Josh Warrington feels a move in weight will be the best option as he looks to secure a rematch against Leigh Wood.
The former two-time IBF world featherweight champion was on the wrong end of a sensational showdown against the Nottingham man at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield on Saturday night.
Warrington challenged Wood for the WBA championship in the 126-pound division on neutral ground, exclusively live on DAZN, and was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards before the titlist unleashed a thunderous left, which was followed by a flurry, to leave the Leeds boxer on his back.
The referee, Michael Alexander, counted out Warrington, who slipped to 31-3-1 with eight quick, at the end of the seventh round.
And Warrington felt like he had been “robbed” after the third man in the ring waved off proceedings, awarding ‘Leigh-thal’ the win in what was a somewhat unbelievable turn of events.
“I feel a bit hard done by tonight,” said Warrington. “It was the end of the round, I get to my feet, there’s a smile on my face, I turned round at eight and the next minute it’s waved off.
“I was cruising the fight, ahead on the scorecards but switched off for a split second. It’s boxing.”
Warrington went into the fight as challenger after losing his aforementioned IBF title last time out against Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez on points in December 2022.
But with his credentials as a legitimate contender at the elite level of the featherweight division, the 32-year-old is considering stepping up to earn a second crack at Wood, who finally looks set to box at the City Ground, the home of his beloved Nottingham
Forest Football Club, next, following the May conclusion of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
“This was probably my last fight at feather, I can still make it comfortably but I’ve been here a long time,” Warrington, who boxed at Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium when he won the IBF title as he dethroned Lee Selby in May 2019, continued.
“I know the referee is there for my own safety but I’m deep into my career. I’ve never really been hurt and this is my seventh world title fight. “I should have been given the opportunity to carry on. Maybe I got up too quickly but my senses were with me.”