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Leigh Wood dropped and stopped Josh Warrington at the end of round seven to retain his WBA featherweight title in an unforgettable fight in Sheffield. Late on Saturday night, Wood was losing on points, cut and hurt when, with just seconds left in round seven, he connected with six perfect punches to send Warrington down. There was shock and pandemonium in the arena and close to 10,000 fanatics had no idea whether to laugh or cry. Warrington somehow beat the count, stumbled to his own corner as the bell sounded, put his hands on the top rope and turned round too late to satisfy the referee, Michael Alexander; there was a second of deliberation and then Alexander called it off. It was the right decision at that moment; it was also heartbreak and relief in equal measure for the two boxers. Wood started screaming in victory, Warrington complained briefly, but was quickly placed on his stool; he dropped his head forward in bitter disappointment. “I’m devastated,” he told me a few minutes later. He was still in the ring, looking from corner to corner and trying to understand what had gone wrong. Warrington had easily won rounds three, four, five, six and 2:58 seconds of round seven. All three of the scorecards had him comfortably in front at the point of the stoppage. The final, devastating punches came from nowhere, but Wood has a glorious history of salvaging lost causes. “There is no quit in me,” Wood said from the ring, his right eye cut and swollen and his face a blur of developing bruises. It was a hard fight, make no mistake. Back in 2021 Wood won the WBA featherweight world title with a stoppage in the 12th and last round, and was losing his first defence against Michael Conlan before finding the punches to dump Conlan out of the ring for the full count with just 90-seconds remaining in the final round. In Sheffield, he performed one more salvation act and it was dramatic and shocking and wonderful. The pace of the fight was relentless and from the start of round three, Warrington took control and there were moments when all the rumours and talk about the struggle Wood has making the weight looked true; by the start of round seven, Wood was trailing, but more than that, he looked like a beaten man. At the start of round five, with the entire arena standing in admiration and hope, and the signs of the struggle clear on their faces, the pair touched gloves; it was a small, lost and quickly forgotten moment, but it reveals a lot about these two boxers. Pride was the title, respect was the story. There was no sign of the finish as the seconds ticked closer to the bell to end the seventh, and then the combination started; Warrington went down in shattered instalments and Wood just kept throwing. It was a genuine ‘wow’ moment. Wood connected cleanly with six punches, starting with a short right hook. It was a savage and calculating finish, a mix that is not as common as you think. They each left the ring to uncertain futures, and they could, in theory, fight again. Warrington wants a rematch; Wood would make a lot of money from a rematch. However, it will not be at featherweight as Wood confirmed that his battle with the scales is over and that he is moving up in weight. Warrington would be at a considerable size disadvantage in a rematch at a heavier weight. Incidentally, Wood retained his WBA bauble, but in the heat of the moment, that piece of jewellery was ignored. Wood is one of modern boxing’s best fairy tales, a family man, a quiet man and a fighter capable of changing a fight with just one punch. In boxing, that is arguably the ultimate. Read More The sporting weekend in pictures ‘It’s some turnaround’: Leigh Wood relishing late career resurgence Leigh Wood celebrates ‘best win’ as he retains WBA title Leigh Wood stops Josh Warrington with outrageous KO out of nowhere Leigh Wood: I’m Josh Warrington’s last chance to get back into title contention Wood vs Warrington LIVE: Results after vicious KO

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Bukayo Saka will not join up with England for international duty next week, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed. Saka was missing for the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Manchester City after struggling with a hamstring issue during recent matches. The absence of Saka ended his run of appearing in 87 consecutive Premier League games and Arteta says he will now sit out England’s upcoming fixtures with Australia (October 13) and Italy (October 17). “No, he will not make it,” Arteta said. “He has not trained for a single session. He is not available to play football at the moment.” He has not trained for a single session. He is not available to play football at the moment. Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka The 22-year-old winger limped off during Arsenal’s loss at Lens on Tuesday, having also been withdrawn in last weekend’s victory at Bournemouth. England manager Gareth Southgate had stated on Thursday he would take no risks with Saka despite the Italy clash being a crucial European Championship qualifier. “I can only go via what Mikel (Arteta) has said about the last few games,” Southgate said earlier this week. “We look after the players as well as any country. There’s always a focus on our players because they are playing their club football, in the main, in England and then we are playing here as well. “Whereas all the other countries call the players that are playing in the Premier League and nobody looks at how they look after them and how they train them. “When we have really good dialogue with all of their clubs, I think they pretty much all would agree that we probably give better feedback than every other nation. “They have trust in us that we make decisions that are right for the long term whenever we can. We only have 10 matches a year. And there’s been times when… Bukayo, for example, we haven’t always played. “But there are certain key games where, if it’s possible to have your best players, then you do want to have them. “So we’ve got that responsibility of qualifying for the country but… I’ve been a player… I’ve never ever taken a risk on a player’s physical wellbeing. And nor would I.” Read More Arsenal ran out of steam last season – but this is a very different Mikel Arteta team Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hails ‘maturity’ of young Gunners after City win Gabriel Martinelli snatches last-gasp victory for Arsenal against Man City Fortune favours Arsenal as Mikel Arteta finally outdoes Pep Guardiola Pep Guardiola says he learned ‘a lot’ from Mikel Arteta ahead of Sunday reunion Pep Guardiola does not think Arsenal clash will have major bearing on title race