Josh Warrington faces stark realisation and huge choice after dispiriting Leigh Wood rematch

Sometimes a boxer needs one fight too many to realise it is over. This may be that fight for Josh Warrington.

While a few can walk away after great wins, many participants in this sport need to feel that moment: when the brain sends the signal to throw the shot or slip the punch, but the message doesn’t get there as quickly as it once did.

This could be that night for Warrington. This time he didn’t lay down the gloves in the ring, instead vowing not to make “any rash decisions” on his future, but as he spoke to his supporters, he offered more than a hint that he is considering walking away.

As he stood in his corner after 12 rounds with Leigh Wood and fought back tears, looking up to his Leeds faithful who bellowed out his name, it must have been on his mind that this may be the last time he hears it.

What an emotional moment, what a career for the 35-year-old Yorkshireman who went from the small-hall circuit to the biggest stages of this sport. Boxing doesn’t always bring the fairytale finish, but should this be the end, it should not take the shine off a remarkable British boxing story.

Wood produced a brilliant performance to make it 2-0 in this particular rivalry between Nottingham and Leeds, and add another chapter to his own story. He has the bragging rights and maybe, at 37, this could be the end for him, too. He could have that moment of going out with a victory, a moment so many boxers fail to seize.

For Warrington, an impressive career may come to an end with a fifth loss in his 38th outing. This was a brave display, but one in which he could not muster the “Leeds Warrior” of old to thrill his followers one last time. The judges’ unanimous scorecards felt a formality but, as we waited, it was maybe a few more moments for Warrington to grace the canvas in a professional career that started back in 2009.

“I’ve come into this fight the fittest, strongest I’ve been in a long time,” said Warrington. “But I can’t keep coming out here with people paying their hard-earned money.”

Both men came into this out of form. Wood had not won a fight since he stopped Warrington on a dramatic night in 2023. Warrington had won just once since 2022, when he became a two-time world champion by beating Kiko Martinez.

The previous 24 hours in the boxing sphere played out like a soap opera. The news of Conor Benn switching to Zuffa Boxing from Matchroom dominated the discussion in the hours preceding the event. Promoter Eddie Hearn had to field questions at the 5k fun run his company puts on before most fight cards, speaking about a boxer who had departed rather than just giving this main event a final bit of hype.

The promotional video for this fight was self-deprecating as both fighters dressed up as old men calling each other out far into the future. It was a clever nod to the long wait for this rematch, a rematch that Warrington so craved. Yet the reality was these were two boxers past their best.

From the moment he emerged from behind the big screens, this felt like one final outing for Warrington and his faithful fans. The crowd favourite began building a supporter base on the road as a small-hall fighter before he got the attention of a big-name promoter in Hearn and then Frank Warren.

A once dental technician, he lived off the line of fixing teeth in the day and then knocking them out at night, but once he started collecting titles, it was clear boxing was the path that would change his life for the better.

The night he beat Lee Selby to become IBF featherweight champion and go above and beyond most people’s predictions for him was the pinnacle. It happened at Elland Road, the home of his beloved football club, and will always remain a great night in British boxing history.

His first defence was against Carl Frampton who, at the time, was a rejuvenated fighter looking to return to the top of the featherweight division. It was a good marker of Warrington’s bravery that he would take on such a challenge straight away. The pair delivered an all-timer of a bout which was brilliant and brutal. Warrington had his hand raised and his reputation elevated. Yet that was 2018, and seven-and-a-half years on, Frampton was here but as a TV analyst, which is where Warrington might better serve going forward.

There was time for one more rendition of Kaiser Chiefs for a Warrington ring walk. His father, Sean O’Hagan, was in the corner again after a health scare. On away soil, the Leeds fans were outnumbered but not unheard in Nottingham.

Wood, the taller man with the longer reach, made it awkward in the opening round, popping out the jab from a southpaw stance. But a left hook at the start of the second drew claret from Wood’s nose and sent him backwards. A decent right towards the end of the frame maybe gave hope that Warrington could pull this off, but that belief soon started to evaporate.

Wood, despite being two years the senior of his opponent, looked fresher as he slipped back into his southpaw stance. Warrington’s dad and trainer was calling for him to “show me something” in the seventh. Warrington was trying, but it would not come.

When the final bell tolled, we were left to wonder if this is the end for Warrington in the ring. No decision yet, but a big one to make on a career which sparkled for more than a few years.

The Leeds man is a former English, British, Commonwealth, European and world champion, but Warrington will forever be in possession of the title of boxing favourite from these shores.