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Reds and Whites: Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington must make fitting finale after Anthony Cacace losses
Amid the hullabaloo and high voices that bellowed around Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena as he waited on the canvas, Leigh Wood could take heart from his local hero status.
The star had just fell to a ninth-round TKO defeat against Anthony Cacace on his return to the ring, more than a year-and-a-half since he last stepped onto the canvas to fight.
The former WBA featherweight title holder had been the underdog, even on home turf in front of a vociferously partisan crowd, especially after so long spent outside the ropes.
But in the wake of a fourth career loss, having made the step up a class to the super-featherweight division, there must have been questions in his head swirling over his future.
"I'm not going to make a decision on the spot," a raw Wood told DAZN afterwards. in the ring. "We'll see. We'll have a talk. I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight."
For many, he should hang up his gloves. The star, one of the biggest ticket-shifters of the past decade outside of London, has more than earned his reputation and rewards.
Yet arguably the biggest dream still eludes him - a headline bout at his beloved City Ground, home to Nottingham Forest, where he would be the first man to top a fight bill there.
At one point, the hope to stage a title encounter there would have been priority number one, but this latest defeat arguably puts to bed any future aspirations of belts and straps.
Yet there is still one encounter that this reverse would not temper both the prospect of, and the enthusiasm for - a rematch with another of Britain's non-capital superstar draws.
(Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Josh Warrington returned to action last month with a particularly low-wattage points victory over Asad Asif Khan, halfway down the bill at Sheffield's Park Community Arena.
For The Leeds Warrior, it was a far cry from the familiar surroundings of his career across the past decade, with multiple sell-out nights in arenas and stadiums across his city.
The two-time featherweight champion's stock has drifted since the pandemic though, with four losses and a draw across a six-fight streak between 2021 and 2024.
The last two of those came against two familiar names - Wood, in a seventh-round featherweight stoppage in late 2023, and then Cacace up a division almost a year later too.
Despite those reverses though, promoters could likely drop Warrington into any indoor West Yorkshire venue - namely Leeds's First Direct Arena - and still draw five figures now.
His fans, like Wood's supporters, have followed him through thick and thin, across the breadth of the nation. Huge swathes were at Wembley Stadium for his clash with Cacace.
Like Wood too, he is in the closing act of his career. Last September, he placed his gloves in the ring, only to subsequently walk back an apparent decision to retire from the sport.
Finally, there is the notion of unfinished business. A Wood-Warrington rematch was mooted as far back as their first bout, with the former keen to take it back to his hometown.
The proposed venue mooted for such a date between two of the most popular non-heavyweight fighters of their generation? Nottingham Forest's City Ground, of course.
It would not be unfair to say that neither man will arguably make a bigger date than this, though Wood possibly has a plethora of other options who would take a second bite too.
Likewise, while Warrington still harbours dreams of a fight at Madison Square Garden, both men have broadly been fortunate enough to tick most of their bucket-list venues off.
The City Ground is Wood's white whale thus far, the goal that has seemed unattainable. But if he believes he has one more dance in him, the perfect partner is ready and waiting.
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