WARRINGTON SURVIVES A SCARE AND IS LOOKING TO ANNEX VEGAS FOR YORKSHIRE

HAVING come within a few accurate jabs of defeat in his own backyard, Josh Warrington is planning for equally uncomfortable nights on the other side of the Atlantic. His unique way of expressing that was to say he wants ‘the big fights that make me s*** myself’ after a split decision scare against Kid Galahad on Saturday night. If there is an echo of Ricky Hatton in Warrington’s colloquial charm, then there are also shades of the Hitman in how he is mapping out his career. The aim is to annex Las Vegas as an extension of Yorkshire, while adding other featherweight world titles to the IBF belt he defended successfully at the First Direct Arena. That puts him on a collision course with the other divisional kingpins: Leo Santa Cruz, the WBA champion; WBC-holder Gary Russell Jnr; and Oscar Valdez, who has the WBO belt. Santa Cruz, a world champion at three weights, is generally held up as the best and is the first priority. Warrington’s performance level for such an assignment will need to improve compared to the one delivered against Galahad, a tricky switchhitting, counter-puncher who made a good fighter look clumsy. In such a close fight, it easily might have been scored for Galahad. After coming through a difficult evening, it is tempting to wonder about Warrington’s potential from here. His upset wins against Lee Selby and Carl Frampton made him one of the most prominent figures in British boxing and one positive conclusion from Saturday is that he has local backing like no other. The manner in which he is supported by his home city of Leeds is reminiscent of what Hatton had in Manchester, a view endorsed by Hatton’s maverick former coach Billy Graham, who has recently been used in an advisory capacity by Warrington and his team. Graham was in Hatton’s corner for three of his Vegas expeditions and he believes Warrington will lead similar migrations of thousands of fans to America. ‘I hope he gets to unify because he is a

proper honest guy,’ Graham said. ‘He is a clever kid, people like him, he would bring big numbers to Vegas, like Ricky did. ‘It started with Ricky the same sort of way. It was Manchester first and then the popularity grew worldwide. It is a bit like that with Josh and Leeds. Ricky didn’t just appeal to the fight fans, he appealed to everyone, and it started like this. People will follow Josh.’ The link-up with Graham, 64, has seen the re-emergence of one of the sport’s more colourful figures, though he has been quick to stress he is on the fringes. ‘They just wanted to know more about the pressure on a big fight because Josh was a big underdog against Selby, like Ricky was against Kostya Tszyu.’ Warrington’s trainer is his father, Sean O’Hagan, and Graham says that most of his dealings with him is ‘other stuff more than boxing... wildlife and stuff — I have had all kinds of exotic species. Sean got me a baby grass snake. We talk about that as much as anything else.’ On boxing, Graham believes Russell Jnr would be the trickiest opponent for Warrington (right). ‘Santa Cruz, Valdez, I think Josh beats them all. Russell is maybe the most difficult because he is extremely fast.’