Boxing Challenge: Wood Knocks Out Conlan

   For almost eleven rounds, Ireland's Michael Conlan controlled England's Leigh Wood and seemed to be on his way to a clear victory in what can only be termed as the type of battle that boxing rarely sees.

However, with seconds to go in the eleventh, Wood scored a knockdown that could have been ruled a slip, which pulled him back into the fight on the official scorecards.

And there lies the rub- more questionable scoring may have forced Conlan into feeling that he had to win the final round and therefore stand toe to toe with Wood in his hometown.

In a hellacious final round, Wood landed a good right that didn't seem that remarkable considering the bombs that both fighters had accepted throughout the fight but knocked Conlan out before he hit the ground as Conlan was knocked through the ropes, out of the ring, and ironically into the laps of his father and brother, who were both sitting at ringside with the fight immediately being ended.

Conlan was losing the first round until a looping left and sent Wood on his back and Conlan would nearly stop Wood in the second and third but could never score another knockdown against the brave Wood.

Wood rallied a bit in the fourth and fifth before Conlan resumed control. which he would maintain until Wood managed to win the tenth and eleventh (which was fairly close until the knockdown) setting the stage for the dramatic finish.

The dramatic win for Wood was the feel-good story on a day that he seemed to be far behind for all the action of a sure-fire contender for fight of the year but things could have been much different.

Entering the final round, Conlan led by two points on one card and only one on the other two, so even if Conlan had managed to beat the count and only lose the round 10-8, Wood would have won a majority decision and as good as this fight was, that would have placed a huge damper on the bout, especially after the decision given to Josh Taylor over Jack Catterall two weeks ago also in the UK.

I had Conlan leading 105-102 entering the final round, which meant Wood needed a knockout to win.

For Wood, a world title should be next as the WBA has mandated that Leo Santa Cruz face the winner of Wood-Conlin but should Santa Cruz decide to vacate, Wood will likely be promoted to the position.

However, a bigger money fight for Wood could be against Josh Warrington in the UK should Warrington win back the IBF title against Kiko Martinez in two weeks.

As for Conlan, who fought so well before the final rounds, I'm sure a rematch would sell, even years down the road but he would benefit from a softer return fight to make sure that Conlan could return to form.

What a fight and one that will be remembered for how the fight concluded- not how the fight was judged and that is a refreshing change.

In the other boxing challenge fight, welterweights Gabriel Maestre and Taras Shelestyuk battled to a ten-round draw in a WBA eliminator in Montreal, Canada.

I haven't seen this fight yet but Ring TV wrote that Shelestyuk deserved the nod.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 33 Pts (0)

V.S: 32 Pts (1)

R.L: 28 Pts (0)