HEAVEN AND ELL’ FOR WARRINGTON
JOSH WARRINGTON has vowed to give Leeds fans their best nights since the city’s football team were bidding to conquer Europe 45 years ago.
Warrington, 29, has been going to Elland Road since he was a boy. And he reckons that for United fans of his era, his fights have provided memories to tell their grandchildren.
“Lads my age remember Leeds in Europe but they don’t remember the glory days in the 1970s,” he said.
“They have to listen to the stories their dads and uncles tell them.
“Fans are wondering, ‘Will I ever get to experience what my dad experienced?’
“Lads who have lost heart in the football and rugby clubs and want to cheer on a local lad who is trying to achieve things have got behind me. I have made an impact on a lot of people’s lives. I have given Leeds fans some glory nights.”
There were 20,000 fans at Elland Road to watch Warrington rip the IBF featherweight championship from Lee Selby in 2019 and thousands travelled to Manchester to see him beat Carl Frampton in one of the best fights of that year. But he wasn’t always so popular.
“People have said, ‘He’s just a ticket seller, he’s only in the position he is because he sells so many tickets’,” he said. “But the support has grown. I remember once fighting on an undercard and only selling four tickets!”
Warrington next wants to take his fans to America and says that ambition was one of the reasons behind leaving promoter Frank Warren to return to Eddie Hearn.
Next up is likely to be a unification fight with WBA champion Can Xu.
And after that he faces a rematch with Kid Galahad – who is back in the mandatory challenger’s position after stopping Claudio Marrero last month.
“I’m at the stage of my career where I want to be in big fights,” said Warrington.
“I want to be known as a champion who takes on the best.”
And he hopes more success will inspire the next generation in his home city. He added: “I get lads coming up to me all the time saying, ‘I’m having my first fight next week’, and I think that’s down to me.”