Wood: "I felt a little bit flat in the changing room but the crowd picked me up. I had to box smart, he's a tough kid"
Saturday 11 May 2019 00:34, UK
Leigh Wood secured an impressive stoppage win against Ryan Doyle to retain his Commonwealth featherweight title at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.
Wood dominated the fight and had blooded Doyle by the halfway mark before landing a stunning left hook, which left the former holder counted out on the canvas in the 10th.
"Incredible. Best night of my boxing career so far, loved every minute of it," Wood said on Sky Sports.
"I felt a little bit flat in the changing room but the crowd picked me up. I had to box smart, he's a tough kid.
"Credit to Ryan Doyle, he's a tough, tough kid. He was fit but I poured my heart into that camp and he wouldn't beat me tonight no matter what."
A cautious start from both fighters saw Wood switch to southpaw and back again, while Doyle fought on the front foot.
Wood stepped up his work-rate in the third round and in the next planted his feet as he whipped in heavy hooks to the body and head before finishing the round with a solid right upstairs.
The local hero grew in confidence and continued to switch stances in the fifth before backing up his man on the ropes and unleashing heavy combinations.
Wood opened up a cut around Doyle's eye in the sixth and continued to target punishing body shots in the seventh before finishing the round with a six-punch flurry.
Doyle, trailing heavily on points, continued to come forward, pumping out his jab in the eighth, while Wood took a breather in the ninth.
The 30-year-old rocked Doyle with a left hook in the 10th and unloaded a flurry of punches before sending Doyle crashing to the canvas with a left-hook counter from which he was unable to recover.
