Premier League Tips

Leigh Wood makes the first defence of the WBA world featherweight title he won from China's Can Xu last time out. The champion headlines Eddie Hearn's latest card from the Nottingham Arena. Local lad Wood will be cheered on by a capacity crowd, but in opponent Michael Conlan he meets a dangerous opponent who is good enough to ensure that reign as champion is short-lived.

Ireland's number one ranked featherweight brings an unbeaten record into this contest, and if he can maintain his winning ways, Conlan will set up a huge year in his career. The 30-year-old from Belfast believes he has the skills and firepower to leave Nottingham a world champion, and there are many industry insiders who share that confidence.

Wood shocked the world

Lethal Lee entered his last fight as a rank outsider to beat Xu at the Matchroom HQ Garden show last summer. The general feeling among boxing fans at the time was that the fighter from Beijing was in town to impress a British audience and help push through a money-spinning bout with Leeds Warrior Josh Warrington. As we know, the fight game rarely follows a script, and Wood shocked the world with a famous win.

That victory in Brentwood before a global audience may have been an upset win for the Englishman, but it was one Leigh fully deserved. The 33-year-old from Nottingham put on a show, out-boxing his opponent for long periods before moving in to score a stunning late stoppage. He took Xu out with a powerful right hand to the head, and the flattened fighter looked in no condition to continue when referee Marcus McDonnell waved the fight off.

Despite being the current keeper of the WBA belt, Wood is ranked only sixth in the world ahead of this bout, meaning the pressure remains on his shoulders. He will keep that desire to reach the top of the division and, ideally, book a big fight in Las Vegas or bring another star to the UK. Wood is 2.568/5 for the win with a points cheer 3.1511/5 and the KO/TKO 43/1.

Conlan's time to shine

Mick Conlan already has a perfect 16-fight CV behind him with eight knockout wins and 115 professional rounds under his belt, but the challenger from Belfast is yet to hit his peak. His first seven paid bouts were overseas, boxing in the United States - where he has a huge following - and Australia. Conlan has effectively moved through the rankings, and in addition to being the number one featherweight in ROI, he is ranked 19th in the world. The latter will change dramatically if Michael wins in style on Saturday.

The 5ft 8inch boxer was last seen scoring an eye-catching points win over Ireland's TJ Doheny at Falls Park in Belfast. He won that bout by a comfortable margin on the scorecards with five rounds, five rounds and 11 rounds the difference. Despite holding a 50% KO average, Conlan's last two wins have come on points, and his last seven have all gone beyond nine rounds. That shows he's a fighter comfortable taking his time or piling on the pressure.

Saturday is a chance for Conlan to show he's more than just a great prospect. He can prove he has what it takes to win at the top level and become a world champion within 17 bouts. Will he achieve that goal? Conlan is priced at 1.654/6 in the fight winner market. Another points verdict is 1.834/5 with a KO/TKO 43/1.

Expect a classic

Here we have a fighter who worked tirelessly to become champion of the world and won't want to give that up at the earliest opportunity. Having battled his way into a position to challenge then upset the odds to beat Xu, Wood won't want his dream to end here. In Conlan, he faces a challenger in a rush to get to the top and the skills to back it up. We expect a classic contest.

Looking through the stats for a clue to help solve this puzzle, we note five of Conlan's last seven wins have been on points. Wood's last four wins have been by stoppage in the later rounds, so we don't expect an explosive start from either fighter. The last time Wood went to points, James Dickens beat him for the European title.

Take Conlan to edge this with a narrow points win.