Leigh Wood had anticipated that he was going to spoil Can Xu’s party this Saturday and become the new World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion. Things went just as planned and the Briton scored a technical knockout to win the black and gold belt in Brentwood, England.

The first date of the Matchroom Boxing Camp had a great feature event in which Wood brought out his best boxing and reduced the champion for much of the fight to finish him off in the final round and leave no room for doubt.

Wood knew he was facing an opponent with a volume of punches like few fighters today and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. The British kept throwing punches throughout the fight but with the advantage that he knew how to use the distance and did not allow Xu to enter the short distance, which is his forte for the exchange.

The jab was key for the new champion, who relied heavily on hooks over the Chinese’s guard and also knew how to work to the body. Although it was Can Xu who was ahead in the fight, it was Wood who dominated walking the ring and hitting hard.

A hard right to the face in round 12 was the trigger for the victory of the 32-year-old fighter. Wood was able to send Xu to the canvas and although he got up, he was in bad shape, which the British fighter took advantage of to attack and force the referee to stop the fight with only a few seconds left in the fight.

Wood got his 25th victory in professional boxing, while he has 2 defeats and 13 knockouts. Can Xu dropped his record to 18 wins, 3 losses and 3 knockouts.