Behind on Points, Leigh Wood Brutally Knocks Michael Conlan Out of The Ring With 95 Seconds Left, Retains WBA Featherweight Title
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
London, UK (March 13th, 2022)– After getting knocked on his back in the first round by undefeated southpaw challenger Michael Conlan, and behind in the fight on points on all three scorecards going into the twelfth and final round, Leigh Wood knocked Conlan down in the final round, then brutally knocked him out of the ring unconscious with 95 seconds left, to retain his World Boxing Association World Featherweight championship.
Wood, 26-2 with 16 knockouts, Gedling, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, went pro in October 2011, and did not get a shot at a world title for ten years before winning the WBA title in an upset over then world champion Can Xu in July 2021 by twelfth round stoppage. Conlan, 16-1 with eight knockouts, Belfast, Northern Ireland, had a great right hook, and great left and right jabs, and did magnificent body work.
During an eleventh round exchange, Conlan went down, scored a knockdown but appeared to instead a slip. Wood was coming on strong in the eleventh and twelfth rounds, with Conlan beginning to tire. After a brutal attack from Wood, Conlan slumped over along the ropes, when Wood knocked through the ropes, out of the ring and onto his head, with referee Steve Gray ending the bout at 1:25 of the twelfth and final round. Both boxers were cut, and Conlan seemed the better boxer for most of the bout, but Conlan was, like Can Xu, unable to make it out of the twelfth and final round against the determined and ferocious Wood down the stretch. Conlan, unlike Gerald McClellan’s to Nigel Benn in the United Kingdom in 1995, regained consciousness after the bout and apparently will be okay. It did appear Conlan was out on his feet when he dropped his hands along the ropes before the final blows from Wood sent Conlan on a one-way ticket through the ropes into the crowd.
Result: Leigh Wood TKO 12 Michael Conlan, Featherweights (1:25)
Wood retains World Boxing Association World Featherweight title
Both fighters cut. Wood was knocked down on his back in first round. Conlan down in eleventh round. Conlan was knocked unconscious out of the ring in twelfth round.
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