Being a big talking, Nottingham Forest-supporting world boxing champion – with a flair for the remarkable in the ring – is nothing new.

Before the two-time featherweight world champion, there was four-time super-middleweight title winner Carl Froch.

With his final punch in the sport, Froch floored George Groves to retire with the IBF and WBA crowns in his possession in 2014.

It was a huge right hand delivered in front of 80,000 spectators at Wembley when he was 36, ensuring the Nottingham fighter would go on to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Almost a decade later, and 35-year-old Wood is trying to secure his own legacy with a stadium fight of his own despite deciding to vacate his WBA featherweight title this week.

And it is at the City Ground, home venue of the football club he has supported since childhood, that he intends to do it.

“Carl Froch did unbelievable things for our city, and he did lot of things I won’t do,” Wood told BBC Radio Nottingham.

“He headlined at Wembley, he changed the game for fighters coming through – it was 80,000 [fans watching], if you didn’t know about it.

“He hit that gate. That is an unbelievable feat for a fighter to do.

“He achieved a lot of things in the sport, but for me to have have my own little stamp on my career, and to give me my own identity, there is nothing better than to be the first person to headline at the City Ground.

“It is very personal for me. I have a lot of good relationships at the club, I’ve been a fan for a long time and I know when I walk out to Mull of Kintyre at the City Ground, it will be something I will never witness again.”

‘I’ve kept my side of the bargain’

That dream, one he has fought for years to realise, is expected to come true with his next fight, which is set to be at super-featherweight.

He made sure of that, getting it written into his contract when he took on Josh Warrington – a fight he won in thrilling fashion at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena earlier this month.

“I’ve stayed persistent,” Wood said.

“I’ve kept winning, I’ve kept to my side of the bargain and put it in the contract for my last fight, won that and then we are here.

“It’s in the pipeline now, the ball is rolling, the conversations have taken place. Dates have been spoken about. It’s getting exciting.”

It is that passion and affection for the Reds that helped Wood pull off the win he needed to tee up a showdown at the 30,000-seater stadium.

For all the preparations he made to face Warrington – the build-up pitting Nottingham against Leeds and the Reds and against the Whites – it was the song Mull of Kintyre that focused Wood as he headed towards the ring.

It is a song he has belted out with gusto countless times with thousands of Forest fans around him, hitting the crescendo with its iconic hair-raising verve.

“I didn’t feel great before this fight, making weight was really hard for me. It was the third time I made that weight this year,” Wood said.

“I didn’t really bounce back as good as I normally do.

“Hearing that [song] on my entrance really does pick me up and gets me in the right frame of mind.

“It reminds me about how far I’ve come and how far I’ve got to go.”

For Wood, his emotional link with Forest has lasted a lifetime.

The relationship these days goes well beyond a motivational song, or wearing the Reds scarf around his neck in the ring or even parading his world title belt at the City Ground.

Video calls with Cooper and an open invite at Forest

His friendship with Forest boss Steve Cooper is now central to that bond.

“Me and Coops spend a lot of time talking,” Wood said. “He FaceTimes me quite a lot.

“We have built a relationship over the last few years, just from going down to the club and having little chats and laughs with each other.

“He invites me down to the training ground and I’ve got an open invite to go whenever I want, which is nice.”

Across the club these days, Forest are just as much in Wood’s corner as he is in theirs.

Having the doors to the analytics department at Forest opened to him was proof of that, with Wood learning how the Reds managed to use a water bottle to pull off one of the most significant wins in their history.

“I was very intrigued to see what goes into the work behind the scenes,” Wood said.

“A long time ago when Forest went up, in the [Championship play-off] semi-final against Sheffield United at home it went to penalties and I was intrigued about the penalty taking because of the water bottle that [goalkeeper Brice] Samba had.

“I delved into that and the work that went into it was unbelievable – the hours and hours of research that went into winning that shootout.

“In hindsight that paid off.

“It’s the same with my preparation, I can just relate to it so much.”

While Wood has a career-defining bout at the City Ground to try to prepare for, he is most keen just to take his seat in the stands to again watch his team.

That, and he is as keen as ever to showcase his title belt with what has become a customary presentation on the pitch.

“I get a bit of stick off some people because they say I’m on there more than some of the players,” Wood joked.

“Every time I go back after a fight the support down there gets bigger and bigger. I appreciate it so much and am so thankful for them getting behind me.”