Nathaniel Collins (Commonwealth featherweight champion)
I felt like Leigh Wood, as the world champion defending his belt, should have been given those 10 final seconds in the round and the chance to recover in the corner. He is an experienced guy and I think he would have been able to recover – he showed his powers of recovery against Michael Conlan. Whether he could have survived the next round, or the next few, nobody knows, but, based on his performance up to that point, I would have given him the chance because he has the capability to also change a fight himself.
Michael Conlan (Featherweight contender)
I think it was a good stoppage. Leigh was out on his feet with enough time left in the round for Lara to finish him off. Lara is a ferocious finisher and Wood was “gone”, so it was the right decision.
Joe Gallagher (Trainer)
Ben made the right call. He knows his fighter better than anyone. He also knows the opponent as well and he wouldn’t want Lara unloading on him. Lara is a vicious finisher and Ben was aware of that, so allowed his fighter to live to fight another day.
Gareth A Davies (Journalist)
It was spot on from Ben Davison, regardless of whether Wood was revealed to be ahead on all three judges’ cards afterwards or that there were only a matter of seconds left in that seventh round. Wood was out, hit his head heavily as he was felled in that exchange of left hooks, and Lara was poised to do far more damage. Safety first, live to fight another day, and perhaps invoke the rematch clause. The danger for Wood is that Lara, aged 24, is the most dangerous fighter at 126lbs.
