Britain’s Josh Warrington will take on Spanish fighter Kiko Martinez this weekend in a battle to land the IBF Featherweight title.
The bout takes place at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, Warrington’s home town, as the former champion gets back in the ring after two bouts against Mauricio Lara, the first one seeing the first defeat of his career and the second a technical draw after a clash of heads forced the bout to be stopped after two rounds.
Those two results are the only blots on Warrington’s record, which boasts a win over Kiko Martinez in his 25th fight, which came just two before he landed the IBF Featherweight title for the first time when beating Lee Selby in 2018.
It is a chance for Warrington to put behind him the last two fights, the first of which saw him lose after being a 1/33 favourite.
Bet365 Sport have Warrington as the 1/4 favourite to win the bout on Saturday night, with Kiko Martinez ranked as the 11/4 outsider.
The undercard will also see Maxi Hughes and Ryan Walsh battle it out for the IBO Lightweight title, while Maria Cecillia Roman will take on Ebanie Bridges for the IBF Bantamweight title.
Ever since the Fury V Wilder III bout we have been spoilt with a number of exciting boxing clashes and there are plenty more on the horizon over the coming months, including Tyson Fury’s defence of the WBC title against Dillian Whyte in April.
But on Saturday the focus will be on Leeds and whether Warrington can claim back the title or whether Martinez can score a big upset victory.
Josh Warrington – Factfile
The proud native of Leeds, Warrington has made no secret of his love for all things to do with the city, including his support of its two big professional sports teams, Leeds Rhinos and Leeds United Football Club.
The former World Title holder has fought 32 times as a professional, winning 30, losing once and drawing once, both of which came in his last two fights. Seven of his wins have come by KO.
After turning professional in 2009, Warrington worked his way up through domestic and commonwealth levels, landing the English and Commonwealth featherweight titles, he then landed the European title in his 19th fight with a win over Davide Dieli.
Two fight’s later and he landed the WBC international featherweight title with a win over Dennis Tubieron and in his 25th fight he took on and defeated his opponent tonight, Kiko Martinez, winning a majority decision after 12 rounds.
Victory over Dennis Ceylan of Denmark in his next bout set him on a collision course with IBF Featherweight World Title holder Lee Selby, with the bout set to take place in Leeds.
Despite being the underdog in the fight against the Welshman, Warrington simply outworked his opponent over the 12 rounds to earn a split decision victory and claim the IBF title.
He successfully defended that title three times, beating Carl Frampton by unanimous decision in an outstanding bout in December 2018 and he then earned a split decision win in an untidy foght against another British world title contender in Kid Galahad.
Sofiane Takoucht was next up but the fight didn’t last long with Warrington earning a win by TKO in the second round back in October 2019.
However, Warrington didn’t fight at all in 2020 and the inactivity led to him having to give up his world title and it was not until February 2021 that Warrington got back into the ring.
His opponent at the SSE Arena in London was an unfancied Mexican Mauricio Lara,and with Warrington as short as 1/33 with some bookmakers for the fight, it seemed as if Warrington would land the win.
However, in a stunning upset Lara earned a victory by TKO in the 9th round after sending Warrington to the canvas earlier in the fight, a knockdown which the Leeds fighter never really recovered his composure from.
A rematch was set up for September 2021 but ended in a somewhat unsatisfactory draw after just two rounds when Lara and Warrington accidentally clashed heads and Lara was unable to continue with a cut he sustained.
Now next up for Warrington is a familiar foe that he first faced and beat back in 2017, Kiko Martinez. And with it the IBF Featherweight title is on the line for the winner
Kiko Martinez – Factfile
The experienced 36 year old Spaniard has had a long and varied career, fighting 55 times and winning 43 of those bouts, 30 by KO and losing 10.
He began as a professional back in 2004 and won his first 17 fights, winning the European Super-Bantamweight title in the last of those fights against Irishman Bernard Dunne.
However, he could not hold onto that belt in his next fight losing to Rendall Munroe. Three wins followed before he battled Munroe again, once again losing before he also lost his next fight in South Africa against Takalani Ndlovu.
Seven wins in a row over the next three years established him as a World Title contender at Super Bantamweight but he lost to Carl Frampton. Four wins followed, the second of which saw Martinez claim the IBF Super-Bantamweight title over Jonatan Romero, before he faced Frampton once again and lost.
He challenged and lost to Scott Quigg for the WBA Super Bantamweight title in 2015 before mocing up to featherweight where in 2016, he fought and lost against Leo Santa Cruz for the WBA Super Featherweight title.
A couple of fights later, he faced Josh Warrington for the first time, losing his challenge for the WBC International featherweight title,
He lost again when challenging for the WBC Featherweight title against Gary Russell Jr. but in his last fight, he challenged Kid Galahad for the IBF version of the belt and was a stunning winner over the British boxer, landing a 6th round TKO to become a World Champion at two weights.
Now Martinez will put that belt on the line against Warrington on Saturday night.
Warrington v Martinez Tips
Warrington is the clear favourite to win this bout, but 1/4 does seem a bit short considering he has not won in his last two bouts. Martinez is a veteran fighter and two-weight World Champion, and he has a bigger punch than Warrington, winning 30 of his bouts by KO.
This is by no means a cakewalk for the Englishman here and while I do think he will win, and likely by points, I think this will be a lot closer than the odds suggest.
Tip – Warrington to win on points.
Tags: bet365 Sport Boxing
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