Michael Conlan is set to fight Leigh Wood for the WBA World Featherweight title after promotion Matchroom Boxing won the purse bid.
Conlan is Wood’s mandatory challenger after his interim title win over TJ Doheny at Falls Park in Belfast last year.
His most recent victory saw him move to 16-0 in his professional career after his controversial exit at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
The WBA had opened up purse bids for the fight on Monday morning with Matchroom and Top Rank seen as the favourites to land it.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn announced their bidding victory on Twitter that evening: “Delighted to win the purse bid for our Champ @itsLeighWood to defend his WBA World title against @mickconlan11 – official announcement coming soon.”
Leigh Wood, who is represented by Matchroom, won the WBA belt in July when he knocked Chinese boxer Can Xu down in the 12th round of their fight at Matchroom HG Garden.
The fight is set to be broadcast on DAZN due to their partnership with Matchroom Boxing and is expected to take place in 2022, possibly on St Patrick’s Day – Wood is currently recovering from an injury.
This bout will be the first World title bout that Conlan has fought at professional level – he has previously fought for and won the WBO inter-continetal featherweight and bantamweight belts as well as the featherweight division’s WBA interim belt, as previously mentioned.
