Leigh Wood breaks silence after brutal TKO loss to Mauricio Lara and backs trainer Ben Davison for throwing in towel
LEIGH WOOD has spoken out on social media following his devastating defeat to Mauricio Lara in Nottingham.
The 34-year-old was sent tumbling to the canvas by a brutal left hook in the round seven.
Wood managed to clamber off the floor to beat the count, but coach Ben Davison had seen enough and threw in the towel.
In doing so the hometown hero lost his WBA featherweight title to the hard-hitting Mexican.
Leigh protested the stoppage but was out on his feet and needed oxygen from the ringside medics after the contest.
And in a Twitter post on Sunday, Wood said that he stood by Davison’s decision.
Wood wrote: “Would like to thank everybody that turned out for me last night wasn’t my night but as always I’ll be back better than ever.
“Congratulations to Lara enjoy your victory & hopefully I’ll see you again soon.”
He then added: “Also I stand by my coaches decision I know he cares about me.
“Boxers sometimes have to be saved by themselves, I have more big nights ahead.
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“It was painful at the time but with my kids today, smile on my face knowing I’ll be back better than before like always.”
Wood had been ahead on the scorecards before his corner threw in the towel with just seconds left in the round.
And Tony Bellew claimed it was the WRONG decision to pull Wood from the fight.
He told DAZN: “I’m usually very rewarding to trainers for stopping fights like that. Listen, Ben Davison knew what he was getting into tonight.
“You’ve got to let him carry on, in my opinion. You know you are going to get hurt in a fight. He’s not completely gone because look at his reaction as soon as he sees that towel.
“He says ‘no, no, no, no, no’. I know what people are going to say that Ben Davison knows him better than anyone else. I get that.
“You know he was going to get hurt at some point tonight. You’ve got to let him ride it out.”