Wood makes first defence of WBA featherweight belt

Leigh Wood from Nottingham, England, makes the first defence of his WBA secondary featherweight belt when he meets Michael Conlan of Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England, on Saturday night.

The 33-year-old Wood (25-2; 15) will be making the first defence of the belt that he won on a 12th-round technical knockout against Can Xu on 31 July last year.

Wood has held the British and WBO European featherweight titles and the only two losses on record came against Gavin McDonnell (tko 6) in February 2014 and James Dickens on a majority decision in February 2020.

Conlan,30, who has a record of 16-0; 8, won the vacant WBA interim featherweight belt on 6 August last year when he beat TJ Doheny on points over 12 rounds.

However, his interim belt has been withdrawn after the WBA did away with interim belts.

There is no doubt that this will be Wood’s most challenging opponent since he joined the professional ranks in March 2017.

The champion is the more experienced fighter and has a good jab that could keep Conlan on the outside in a fight that could go to a close decision either way.

One of the betting sites has Wood at 6/4 and at Conlan 4/7.

The other main organisation champions are WBA “super” Leo Santa Cruz, WBC, Mark Magsayo, IBF, Kiko Martinez and WBO Emanuel Navarrete.

TSHIHIWA MUNYAI TO MAKE FIFTH DEFENCE

It has been reported that South African junior featherweight champion Tshifhiwa Munyai will make the fifth defence of his title when he meets Aphiwe Mboyiya on 8 April in Middleburg.