British featherweight, Josh Warrington, has reassured fans of his approach to his comeback. The undefeated fighter takes on Mauricio Lara on Saturday, February 13, live on DAZN. Ahead of his comeback, he has vowed to treat Lara with respect.
This will be Warrington’s first fight in over a year. Critics felt he took the Lara fight as a way of dusting off the cobwebs. However, ‘The Leeds Warrior’ has stressed that it’s not the case. Instead, he claimed a fight like this is better than fighting “Tin-Can” opposition.
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Speaking at the press conference before the fight, Warrington addressed the situation. He said, “I wouldn’t want it any other way. There’s no good me blowing out some tin can.”
Warrington also dismissed the other potential opponent, Andoni Gago, saying he would beat him with his left hand.
The Yorkshireman then heaped praise on his opponent. He admitted Lara has the better power and referenced his superior knockout rate. He said this made the fight the perfect preparation for the battles in the future.
‘The Leeds Warrior’ then added, “Make no mistake about it, I’m treating him like a monster. Because I can’t afford a banana skin, a slip up at this stage.”
These comments showed how confident he is ahead of his return.
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Why did Josh Warrington face criticism for his choice of opponent?
Warrington was the IBF featherweight champion and had made three successful defenses. However, he made the surprising decision to vacate and explained that it was to chase fights with the other champions like Gary Russell Jr and Xu Can.
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However, the IBF title would have prevented this as he would have to face his mandatory, which could have been against Kid Galahad or the aforementioned Gago.
His decision to fight Lara raised eyebrows as the Mexican only ranks eighth in the IBF rankings, lower than Gago. Therefore, he had to explain his choice, and going by his comments, it’s safe to say he rates Lara as a harder fight than Gago.
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What do you make of these comments from Josh Warrington? Do you think fighting Mauricio Lara is good preparation for the other title fights?