Wood’s seventh-round stoppage of Warrington in Sheffield in October 2023 remained a point of contention, with Warrington insisting he had recovered in time to resume. Wood said the clip he had seen captured Warrington in the seconds immediately after the referee intervened, a period he believed had not been widely shown.
Wood cites unseen footage
Speaking to BoxingScene, Wood said the footage showed Warrington struggling to regain his balance after the fight had already been called off.
“I have a clip on my phone,” Wood said. “When the ref stops the fight, he waves it off. Then the camera is still rolling, and then he walks to the ropes. He stumbles, the ropes hold him up, and then he falls over. Not many people saw that.”
Wood said the sequence continued beyond the referee’s intervention, showing Warrington was still affected as he moved across the ring.
“His corner was yelling at him to turn around,” Wood said. “He didn’t know where he was. After the ref stopped it, he stumbled to the ropes, tripped up a little bit, ropes held him up, and his friend from his corner ran over and helped him.”
Wood said the footage related to the moments immediately after the referee stopped the fight late in the seventh round, following a series in which Warrington had stopped defending himself. Warrington later said he had recovered and was ready to continue, but Wood said the video he reviewed showed Warrington was still compromised after the action officially ended.
Wood said fighters will often insist they were able to continue, regardless of their actual condition at the time.
“As a fighter, he’s going to say, ‘I was ready to go,'” Wood said. “I was going to say that. But he was really hurt.”
Wood said the footage supported his view that the referee’s decision reflected Warrington’s condition at the time, reinforcing his belief that the fight was stopped at the appropriate time.
