For British boxing fans, one of the biggest developments over the weekend was the bout between Leigh Wood and China’s Xu Can, which saw the Nottinghamshire-born fighter claim the IBF (Regular) featherweight title by 12th round TKO.

Discussing all things boxing on Betfred’s Boxing Show, Manchester’s former WBA and WBO lightweight champion Anthony ‘Million Dolla’ Crolla and journalist Rob Tebbutt discussed last weekend’s boxing action as well as upcoming bouts.

Commenting on the performance by Wood, Crolla and Tebbutt both praised their fellow Briton’s performance, and it seems that the pugilist may be one for fans – and possibly punters as well – to look out for.

“I think that was the fight that most boxing fans were looking forward to,” Crolla remarked. “I thought it was punch perfect, and you’ve got to give credit to Leigh Wood. Its just quick how boxing I can turn around, 

“I was there on the night that he lost to Jazza Dickens, in what was seen as a slight upset. He’s turned it around, the opportunity came at reasonably short notice, and he boxed a perfect fight.

“A lot of people spoke about Leigh Wood’s power going into the fight, which I think certainly was a factor. We also know about Xu Can’s activity, he’s one of the busiest fighters in boxing. I think the punching power had something to do with lowering that punch output, but the jabs to the body, the feints, I was impressed by the ring IQ of Leigh Wood.”

Ahead of this weekend’s upcoming Matchroom Fight Camp boxing action, the Betfred team interviewed the UK’s up-and-coming heavyweight prospect Fabio Wardley, who shared his views on his next English title defence against Nick Webb.

Discussing his opponent, Wardley – who hails from Ipswich, Suffolk – observed that Webb will ‘have some confidence’, having beaten Germany’s Erik Pfeifer – now the WBO European heavyweight champion – in his last fight to claim the IBO title.

“He’s done alright, he’s had his ups and downs. He’s had a few losses and he’s had to come back from them, and he did well when we were on the same bill where I fought Molina and he fought Erik Pfefer. He’s coming off a good win, he’s going to have some confidence behind him and that should lead to a good fight.”

When quizzed on what to expect on Saturday night, Wardley replied: “The same as we always get. A good energy fight, a good energy fight, a good pace and a good amount of power in there, and top everything off with a knockout. That’s what we’re looking for and we’re going to be doing the same.

“With both me and Nick in the ring there’s just no way it’s going to go the distance. We’re both big knockout artists, we’re going to see how it goes.”

Source – Betfred YouTube Channel