After verbal sparring during their press tour last month Michael Conlan has questioned the mental strength of Leigh Wood.
Conlan challenges Wood for the WBA featherweight title in the champion’s home city of Nottingham on Saturday night.
Speaking about the first leg of their two-date tour which began on Wood’s turf Conlan said: “If Leigh watches it back and realises half of the stuff, he was saying didn’t actually make sense. He’s probably going, ‘Why did I say that?’ He said something like, ‘If you’re still standing at the end of this 12th round, I’ll knock you out’. It didn’t make sense.
“Mentally, he’s not strong on that side. You don’t need to be at times. Fighting’s fighting. It’s not talking. But this is part of the game and I’m enjoying it. I love all this. This is part of who I am. I can talk shit naturally. I can be who I am, I don’t need to script any shit.”
Wood will make the first defence of his title which he won impressively against Can Xu last July with a last round stoppage.