New IBO world featherweight champion Jazza Dickens has sent a blunt message to Leigh Wood - telling him he is 'conning the public' and to 'put up or shut up'.
Dickens won the vacant IBO crown at Probellum’s second Liverpool show on Saturday night, out-pointing Lerato Dlamini after 12 intense rounds of boxing. The 31-year-old had twice before failed in world title attempts but on an emotional night, in front of his home fans, he got the better of the dangerous South African.
And Jazza, who has already beaten Wood as both an amateur and professional, has once again set his sights on fighting the 34-year-old.
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He said: “Three months ago, I went back to Ireland to start training for Leigh Wood, but we didn’t hear back, and I found out through social media that he was fighting someone else.
“He doesn’t want to fight me! I know he doesn’t want to fight me, and I knew he didn’t want to fight me in 2020 but he had to because it was a tournament.
“In terms of mentality, I knew I had him then and I’ve still got him now. He’s supposedly taking these big fights, but he’s not, he’s conning the public, he’s saying that he’s going to fight Lara, and then pulling out, he’s saying he is going to fight Santa Cruz, and then pulling out.
“Put up or shut up. Stop telling people you’re doing this and doing that because you’re not. He won the world title, so give him his props.
“I was proud of him that night, he did really well, but he’s blagging it right now. If he wants to come here, to Liverpool, and try and blag it, he won’t get away with it. We’ve got history, we’ve fought twice before and that seems to be the common-sense fight to make.”
No sooner had Dickens finally laid his hands on an elusive world title - he was outlining his vision on how he plans to help inspire the youth of today.
Dickens is different from other boxes. He doesn't crave attention and takes heart from being loved and respected by those in the sport.
And helping the local community is important for the 31-year-old. In fact he sees it as his responsibility to help the youth of today and inspire them to make the right life choices.
“For me, I feel like I have got out of that and made a life for myself just by working hard and being dedicated and I want to be an example,” he told the ECHO.
“I don’t want to ruin my own career. I want to be that shining light for the youth coming through. When you are a young fighter you don’t realise you have got that responsibility and power to do that.
“Now in my 30s I realise I carry that responsibility and I am very, very lucky to have it and guide the youth and the next generation.”
And thanks to the generosity of Probellum, a number of locals were able to attend Saturday's event for free with tickets being donated to Derry ABC and other community groups Dickens is involved with.
“Thank you to Probellum for putting it on because they allowed me to have that night,” he said.
“It is expensive to take your two kids to a boxing fight and it costs a lot of money, especially with the way times are now, the people who are closest to me and the most dearest people of my community, they had the chance to be here and so thank you to Probellum for making that happen.”
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