There haven't been many one-round world title fights better than Nathaniel Wood vs Josh Reed.
Cage Warriors bantamweight world champion Nathaniel Wood successfully defended his title against Josh Reed on Saturday night in a brutal war for the ages.
From the opening exchanges, it looked like a new champion was going to be crowned in Cage Warriors 86's headliner as Josh Reed powered forward and unloaded heavy combinations on the hometown hero. Although Reed was swinging for the fences like a wild man, a few of those haymakers found home and caused Wood to stumble backwards to the fence.
A ferocious combination made Wood take a seat on the canvas. With the scent of a highlight-reel finish filling his nostrils, Reed pressed forward, grabbed his opponent as he tried to get back up and began hammering him in the face with his free right hand.
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Referee Marc Goddard knew the champion was in trouble. He shouted 'fight back, Nathaniel,' as Reed kept tagging him with heavy strikes. As they separated from the clinch, Wood got hit again and stumbled back into the fence another time, but managed to remain on his feet.
Reed went all out, putting zero emphasis on defence as he tried to shut the lights out with his boxing. Wood kept his gloves up, remained composed and began firing back with counter pounches and knees.
After seeing a wild right hand fail to land within a country mile of its target, Reed pushed forward again, but this time he was clipped with a left hand that snapped his head back.
Feeling the momentum shifting in his favour, Wood gave Reed a taste of his own medicine by cracking him with several uppercuts to the chin. He reversed the position, clasped his hands behind the challenger's back, broke his grip and let fly with his left hand.
Once he let the clinch go, Wood simply had more left in the tank. Reed fought valiantly right until the end, but Wood kept pummeling until Goddard was left with no choice but to award him the TKO victory at 2:19 of the very first stanza.
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The win marked Wood's first defence of the Cage Warriors 135 lb title and improved his overall professional rrecord to 12-3. It was the first loss of Reed's career, who is now 7-1 as a pro.
