Wood vs. Xu

On 6 July 2021, it was announced that Wood would challenge WBA (Regular) featherweight champion Xu Can in Brentwood, Essex on 31 July as part of Matchroom's Fight Camp.^[15] Despite being an 11/4 underdog,^[16] Wood outboxed the champion during periods of the fight, and prevailed with an upset victory via twelfth-round technical knockout. Xu was down on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with scores of 105–102, 104–103 and 104–103.^[17] Wood landed 222 of his 935 total punches (24%) and 190 of his 477 power punches (40%), compared to Xu's 208 total and 136 power punches.^[18]

Wood vs. Conlan

His first defence of his new title came against Michael Conlan on 12 March 2022 at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. Wood was knocked down in the final seconds of the first round, Conlan continued to dominate the fight for the next few rounds, but in the later rounds Wood came back into the fight, with Conlan going down in the 11th round, it was scored as a knockdown despite protests from Conlan's corner that it was a slip. In the 12th round, with Conlan being ahead on all the scorecards,^[19] Wood managed to knock out Conlan 1:25 into the round, with Conlan falling through the ropes and being taken to hospital for checks.^[20] Conlan said since that he is "all good" and that the scans were "clear".^[21] Wood's twelfth-round technical knockout of Conlan was awarded as the winner of both The Ring magazine Fight of the Year 2022 and The Ring magazine Knockout of the Year 2022.^[22]

Wood vs. Lara

On 6 April 2022, WBA formally ordered their "Super" champion Leo Santa Cruz to face Wood in a mandatory title defence. They gave the pair 30 days to come to terms and avoid a purse bid.^[23] Matchroom Boxing argued for a 50-50 purse split in lieu of the traditional split between a "Super" champion and mandatory title challenger, which would've seen Santa Cruz receive the lion's share of the purse. As such, Santa Cruz's TGB Promotions and Wood's Matchroom Boxing were unable to reach a deal.^[24]

On 19 July 2022, the WBA once again ordered their featherweight "Super" champion Leo Santa Cruz to face Wood and gave the champion 24 hours to respond to the order. Santa Cruz requested an exemption from his mandatory defence to face the WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas instead, which was denied by the sanctioning body. Santa Cruz then offered Wood step-aside money to postpone their fight so he could face Vargas, which was refused by Wood's camp.^[25] On 1 August, the WBA notified both camps that a purse bid would be held on 12 August, with a minimum allowed bid of $150,000, with a 75% share going to Santa Cruz as the "Super" titlist. Matchroom Boxing previously submitted an appeal for an even purse split, which was refused by the WBA.^[26] They avoided a purse bid, as the two sides reached an agreement to finalise the fight on 12 August.^[27] The agreement wasn't to face each other however, but to pursue separate fights. This request was approved by the WBA on 24 August 2022.^[28] The same day, it was announced that Wood would make his second WBA (Regular) title defence against Mauricio Lara. The title bout was expected to headline a DAZN broadcast card, which took place at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham in Nottingham, England, on 24 September 2022.^[29] Wood withdrew from the fight ten days before it was supposed to take place, due to a torn biceps suffered in sparring.^[30]

On 30 September, the WBA once again ordered Wood and Santa Cruz to enter into negotiations for a title consolidation bout.^[31] On 12 December, Santa Cruz vacated his title and Wood was left as the sole champion in the division.^[32] As the bout with Santa Cruz fell through, Wood was once again booked to make his second featherweight title defence against Mauricio Lara. The fight took place on 18 February 2023.^[33] Wood was knocked down with a left hook near the end of the seventh round. Although he was able to rise from the canvas in time to beat the ten count, his trainer Ben Davison decided to throw in the towel six seconds before the end of the round.^[34]

Lara vs. Wood II

Wood was fought a rematch with Mauricio Lara for the WBA featherweight title in the Manchester Arena, on May 27, 2023.^[35] Lara missed weight by 3.8 lbs at the official weigh-ins and was stripped of the belt, leaving only Wood eligible to win the vacant championship.^[36] Wood captured the vacant title by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 118–109 and one scorecard of 116–111.^[37]

Wood vs. Warrington

Wood was ordered by the WBA, on 30 May 2023, to make a mandatory championship defense against the #1 ranked contender Otabek Kholmatov.^[38] Exactly two months later however, the sanctioning body approved Wood's request to make a voluntary title defense against the former two-time IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington, with the stipulation that the winner face Kholmatov within 120 days of their fight taking place.^[39] The fight took place on 7 October 2023, at the Utilita Arena Sheffield in Sheffield, England.^[40] Wood won the fight by a seventh-round knockout.^[41] He was down 58–56, 59–55 and 59–55 on the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage.^[42] Warrington had furthermore landed nearly twice as many total punches (104 to 53) and power punches (79 to 40) by that point as well.^[43] Wood vacated the featherweight championship with immediate effect on October 17, 2023.^[44]