A few hours after their memorable battle, Michael Conlan demanded a rematch with Leigh Wood from his hospital bed.
Conlan, a native of Belfast, is resigned to never getting a second chance to face Wood as he gets ready for his comeback to the ring on Saturday night following his knockout loss to Wood in the 12th round. Following Wood’s victory against Conlan on March 12 at Nottingham, England’s Motorpoint Arena in an instant classic, Conlan admitted in an interview with BoxingScene.com that Wood wants “bigger fights.”
Conlan thinks that despite Wood’s victory in their 1112-round battle for the brave Brit’s WBA world featherweight gold, Wood took considerably more harm than he did. In the first round, Conlan submitted Wood, but Wood fought back and submitted Conlan in the eleventh.
Conlan asserts that, regardless of who he fights next, Wood won’t be the same fighter.
However, Conlan anticipates seeing a different Wood than the one who faced him nearly five months ago.
Conlan (16-1, 8 KOs), who is frequently listed as at least a 12-1 favorite, will square off against Marriaga (30-5, 26 KOs) in the main event of an ESPN+ webcast that will begin at 2 p.m. ET in the United States. A Fite. tv sporting event’s primary event will be Conlan-Marriaga.
