Eddie Hearn Explains Leigh Wood’s Departure Before Anthony Cacace Fight

Former featherweight world champion Leigh Wood has joined Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions ahead of his upcoming bout against Anthony Cacace. The two fighters will compete for Cacace’s IBO super-featherweight title on May 10 in Wood’s hometown of Nottingham, England. The event will be broadcast on DAZN.

Wood’s last appearance at the Nottingham Arena in 2023 resulted in a seventh-round knockout loss to Mauricio Lara. However, he later avenged this defeat with a unanimous decision victory to reclaim his WBA title. Prior to the Lara fight, Wood had thrilled his Nottingham fans with a spectacular 12th-round stoppage of Michael Conlan in 2022.

The 36-year-old fighter is coming off a seventh-round TKO win over Josh Warrington but will have been out of the ring for 18 months when he faces Cacace. Wood’s 2023 schedule was disrupted by injuries, and his promotional situation remained uncertain.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has now shed light on why their partnership with Wood ended. “We couldn’t reach an agreement on finances with Leigh,” Hearn explained to Boxing News. “We attempted to arrange a rematch with Warrington, but we incurred losses on their first fight. Wood wanted a higher purse after winning, but we actually needed to reduce it. The numbers have to make sense for us. Queensberry is starting on DAZN, so they may be willing to take a loss on Leigh Wood.”

As Wood prepares to face Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) at 130 pounds, this new chapter in his career already seems promising. Cacace is also coming off a victory over Warrington but vacated his IBF title after defeating Joe Cordina last May, choosing not to defend it against mandatory challenger Eduardo Nunez.