Notebook: Wood pulls major upset knockout of Xu to claim featherweight belt

Heavyweight Rice destroys Coffie; Campbell retires

In a major upset, unheralded Leigh Wood knocked out Xu Can in the 12th round to punctuate an impressive performance to win the WBA’s secondary featherweight world title on Saturday.

The fight was the main event of the first of three consecutive Saturday “Fight Camp” cards from Matchroom Boxing in the back garden of the sprawling company headquarters in Brentwood, England.

The fight was elevated from the co-feature to the main event on Thursday after welterweight up-and-comer Conor Benn tested positive for Covid-19 and his fight with Adrian Granados was postponed. Main event or co-feature, it was still compelling as Wood took a big step up in competition and convincingly defeat Xu, who was making his third title defense.

In his second fight with trainer Ben Davison, Wood outfought Xu all the way and led 107-102, 107-102 and 106-103 as they entered the 12th round.

But Wood (25-2, 15 KOs), 33, did not allow the judges to be necessary. He nailed Xu (18-3, 3 KOs), 27, of China, with a clean right hand on the chin to drop him to his rear end late and when Wood was battering him along the ropes in the follow-up attack, referee Marcus McDonald intervened at 2 minutes, 43 seconds.

With the victory, Wood became the second boxer from Nottingham, England, to claim a world title, joining former super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch, who was watching from ringside.

“It feels good to get the stoppage over the line in a great and high-paced fight,” Wood said. “I did say in an interview that I’m going to be catching him clean and it’s not down to me how long the fight lasts, it’s down to him pretty much. I could have sustained that all night. He took some big shots, big heart. Credit to him but the accumulation has its effect as well. The shot I finished him with wasn’t as big as the ones I caught him with earlier on, but they took their toll. I caught him and got the stoppage.

“I had belief in my power. Not only do I have big power, but I know how to get it off, how to set it up and how to mix it up. That’s the biggest factor in working with Ben, Lee Wylie and Barry Smith. They’ve really changed the game for me.”

Xu was nowhere near as active as he usually is, perhaps because of ring rust from having not fought for 20 months.

Wood said he hoped to get a unification fight next, perhaps against James “Jazza” Dickens if he takes the IBF title from Kid Galahad in the main event of next week’s “Fight Camp” card. Dickens won a 10-round majority decision over Wood in February 2020.

“I’m easy. Redemption with Dickens would be great for myself,” Wood said. “Full confidence in Ben getting my tactics right for that fight. I had a bad night that fight, first southpaw I boxed as a pro. I’d like to put that right naturally.

“But if there’s bigger fights, I said I wanted the (WBO titlist Emanuel) Navarrete fight. He’s explosive like me. That’ll be absolute fireworks. People might slate me and say it’s a regular title, let’s fight for the super title, let’s unify – I want big fights. My career was stalled earlier on. In three years I’ve been British, Commonwealth, WBO European and now world Champion. My best years are definitely to come.”

While Wood won the secondary belt, the WBA’s “super” titlist is Leo Santa Cruz, but he has not defended the title in 2½ years and has had his last two fights at junior lightweight.

The card was the first of Matchroom Boxing’s new five-year deal with DAZN to stream all of its events in the United Kingdom and Ireland (other than heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua, who is still under contract to Sky Sports) following the expiration of its deal with longtime U.K. broadcast partner Sky Sports.

Also on the card:

• Chris Billam-Smith (13-1, 10 KOs), 30, of England, won a hard-fought split decision against Tommy McCarthy (18-3, 9 KOs), 30, of Northern Ireland, to take the European cruiserweight title. He also retained the Commonwealth title and won the vacant British title in the co-feature.

• Lightweight Campbell Hatton (3-0, 0 KOs), 20, the son of British legend Ricky Hatton, won a shutout decision over Jakub Laskowski (4-5-1, 2 KOs), 25, of Poland. Hatton won 40-36 on the scorecard from referee Mark Bates.

• Junior middleweight Anthony Fowler (15-1, 12 KOs), 30, whose wife gave birth to their first child a few days ago, stopped late replacement Rico Mueller (28-4-1, 19 KOs), 33, of Germany, in the eighth round. Mueller filled in for Roberto Garcia, who dropped out with an injury during fight week.

  After the bout, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Fowler would next take on former junior middleweight world titlist Liam Smith (29-3-1, 16 KOs), 33, on Oct. 9 at Echo Arena in their hometown of Liverpool, England. Smith, who lost his world title by ninth-round knockout to Canelo Alvarez in 2016, is coming off a unanimous 12-round decision loss to unbeaten Magomed Kurbanov on May 7 in Russia.

• Super middleweight Jack Cullen (20-2-1, 9 KOs), 27, of England, outpointed Avni Yildirim (21-4, 12 KOs), 29, of Turkey, by scores of 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93 in a fight far more competitive than the scores would indicate. But there was little doubt that Cullen had done more than enough to defeat Yildirim, who was last seen getting blown out in the third round challenging unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on Feb. 27.

Rice hammers Coffie in upset

Journeyman heavyweight Jonnie Rice, who had lost two fights in a row, pulled a notable upset by knocking out Michael Coffie in the fifth round of a surprisingly one-sided fight that headlined the Premier Boxing Champions on Fox card on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Coffie, 35, of Brooklyn, New York, who began boxing only five years ago, was seen as a late bloomer by many after a series of knockout wins, including in his last fight when he destroyed former amateur standout Darmani Rock in the third round in January.

But Coffie (12-1, 9 KOs) had little against Rice (14-6-1, 10 KOs), 34, of Los Angeles, who was on standby and pressed into service when former world title challenger Gerald Washington (20-4-1, 13 KOs), who was Coffie’s original opponent, dropped out after testing positive for Covid-19 a few days earlier.

“I wasn't a late replacement. I was waiting for an opportunity,” Rice said. “We replaced someone, but we weren’t late. We were right on time. I was training every day. I was training with (contender) Michael Hunter. I did 20 rounds, 10 and 10 last Friday before I got the call. So when I got the call, I was ready.

“This whole experience was insane. I couldn’t sleep. I looked on Twitter and I saw a lot of people upset I was replacing Gerald Washington and rightly so. Gerald Washington is a big name. I would have wanted to watch Michael Coffie fighting Gerald Washington. I really couldn’t sleep because I felt all the energy and the fight kept getting bigger and bigger. This was all just unreal.”

If he was nervous it didn’t show. The 6-foot-5, 268½-pound Rice started fast and never let up. He was leading 40-36 on two scorecards and 39-37 on the third going into the fifth round when he made the judges irrelevant. He continued to pound the 6-5, 271¼-pound Coffie, whose left eye was swelling, with clean shots. After Rice unloaded a series of unanswered blows, referee Eric Dali stepped in at 2 minutes, 19 seconds.

“Honestly, I did not expect to overwhelm Coffie like that,” Rice said. “I knew Michael Coffie from his fights, but not because he had a great record but because he was a sparring partner for Deontay Wilder. In my head, I played the little game that I was Luis Ortiz’s sparring partner for his second fight against Wilder. So, technically it was Luis Ortiz’s versus Deontay Wilder’s sparring partners. We're going to see what happens. I was playing with that in my head. I had to fight a little bit like Deontay Wilder and then a little bit different. That’s what the game plan was.

“I want it all. I want what every boxer wants. I want to be world champion. I understand that my record doesn't say that, but I want the world to watch my progress. I’m not in the right mind to be calling people out. I’m just going to be ready for the opportunity and when it comes I’m going to answer the call. I’m going to get as much money for it as I can. And you know one thing — I’m going to put on a show.”

In the main bout broadcast on the FS1 portion of the card after the main event, former super middleweight world title challenger Andre Dirrell (28-3, 18 KOs), who has not boxed since December 2019, looked sharp in his second fight at light heavyweight as he smashed Christopher Brooker (16-8, 6 KOs), 30, of Philadelphia in a one-sided third-round knockout win.

Dirrell, 37, a southpaw from Flint, Michigan, scored three knockdowns in the third round. After the third knockdown, referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the fight at 2 minutes, 58 seconds. After the fight, Dirrell, a 2004 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist, he called out for a fight with former two-division titleholder Badou Jack.

Campbell retires

Longtime lightweight contender and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell announced his retirement from boxing. Campbell, 33, a southpaw from Hull, England, made the announcement with a lengthy statement posted to his social media on Friday.

“After a lot of thought and reflection, I have decided that now is the right time to hang up my gloves and retire from boxing,” Campbell wrote. “As soon as I first stepped into St. Paul’s Amateur Boxing Club in Hull, my dream was always to win the Olympics. By winning gold at London in 2012, in front of home support and my family, I had in many ways already achieved my hopes and aspirations in the sport before my professional career even started.

“So, while for many turning pro is where it all begins, for me it was more of a bonus. And what a bonus it turned out to be, achieving more than I ever expected and giving me memories I will never forget. … Probably my proudest victory as a professional has been winning the backing of the fans.”

Campbell (20-4, 16 KOs) turned pro in 2013 and twice challenged for a lightweight world title. In 2017, he traveled to Inglewood, California, and gave then WBA titlist Jorge Linares a very tough fight in a split decision loss. After three wins in a row, Campbell got another title shot against WBA/WBO titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko in August 2019 in London. With the vacant WBC title also on the line, Campbell got knocked down in the 11th round and lost a lopsided decision.

Campbell would fight just once more, when he met Ryan Garcia for the vacant WBC interim lightweight belt on Jan. 2 in Dallas in a bout postponed from December because Campbell tested positive for Covid-19. He dropped Garcia in the second round but got stopped in the seventh.

“The past year in boxing has been tough. An extremely long training camp away from family meant I was only able to spend a few days with my newborn child and also resulted in me having Christmas apart from them on the other side of the world,” Campbell wrote. “It’s in these moments that you realize what is truly important in life. I’ve lived my dreams and accomplished more than I ever imagined I would. In the same way that my dad was able to witness my greatest achievements, I want to be able to do that for my children and make sure I’m always there to see their biggest triumphs.

“Boxing has been a part of who I am since the age of 13 and I would not have been able to reach half the heights I have without the incredible support of my wife Lyndsey, who has been with me every step and every punch of the way. I cannot wait to spend more time with you and our three beautiful boys.”

Campbell also thanked many other people integral to his career before closing with “and now for the next chapter, I am excited to get started.”

Covid-19 hits PBC yet again

Once again Covid-19 has forced a change to the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card.

Canadian Cody Crowley (19-0, 9 KOs) has come down with Covid-19 and was forced to withdraw from his fight with two-time Venezuelan Olympian Gabriel Maestre (3-0, 3 KOs), a source with knowledge of Crowley’s positive test told Fight Freaks Unite.

They were due to fight for the WBA’s vacant interim welterweight belt in the main event of the PBC on Fox card on Aug. 7 at The Armory in Minneapolis. PBC is seeking a new opponent to face Maestre.

It was the second time in a few days that PBC had to change a main event because of the virus. Former heavyweight world title challenger Gerald Washington tested positive for Covid-19 and was replaced by standby opponent Jonnie Rice in the PBC on Fox main event against Michael Coffie on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Two other fights on Saturday’s undercard were canceled due to positive Covid-19 tests, welterweight Justin DeLoach versus Paul Kroll and junior lightweight Maliek Montgomery against Angel Contreras. DeLoach and Montgomery tested positive.

Show and tell

A prime Mike Tyson was stormed his way through the heavyweight division. He had smoked Trevor Berbick to win the WBC title and become the youngest heavyweight champion. In his next fight Tyson took the WBA belt by near-shutout decision over James “Bonecrusher” Smith and then defended the two straps in a dominating sixth-round knockout of Pinklon Thomas. That set the stage for the undisputed title fight with IBF titlist Tony Tucker, against whom Tyson cruised to a lopsided decision to unify the three major titles. It was a somewhat forgettable fight but it took place on Aug. 1, 1987 — 34 years ago on Sunday. Here’s a very scarce Lite Beer poster from the fight in my collection.

Wood-Can photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Rice-Coffie photo: Frank Micelotta/Fox; Campbell photo: Getty Images