He played rugby league for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Balmain Tigers in the NRL.
A Souths junior Wood seemed destined to play the game as father, Barry Wood, was a halfback for the club and his brother, Nathan, also a Souths junior, signed and played for fellow foundation club Balmain Tigers in 1993.
After this Wood decided to make a career out of boxing like fellow league converts Anthony Mundine and Solomon Haumono.
[3] In only his eighth professional bout, on 11 January 2010 Wood became the first winner of The Contender Australia by defeating Kariz Kariuki by a split points decision after seven rounds.
Wood had to drop weight to Middleweight for the fight after the Mundine camp offered $100,000 as a sweetener.