Warrington on a mission to prove he is the world No 1

JOSH WARRINGTON believes victory over Carl Frampton in Manchester next week would secure his reputation as a worldclass fighter and silence those who dismissed him as a “ticketseller”.

The Leeds featherweight admitted to being bemused by UK rankings which rate Frampton as No 1 at nine stone despite Warrington claiming the IBF title with a points win over Lee Selby at Elland Road in May.

Warrington is attempting to scalp both of his major rivals in the division in the space of seven months and said a 28th career victory against Belfast’s Frampton a week on Saturday was necessary to “cement” him as the top featherweight in the country.

Frampton is a former twoweight world champion whose career peaked with a win against Mexico’s Leo Santa Cruz in New York in 2016, a result which earned him the WBA’s belt. The 31-yearold, however, has been without a world title since losing a rematch to Santa Cruz in January, 2017, his only defeat in 27 bouts.

Unbeaten Warrington said he had agreed to make his first IBF defence against Frampton in a bid to dispel the belief that Frampton was in a class above him.

“I do feel a little bit like that,” said Warrington. “The board have got him ranked No 1 and me a place behind him, even though I’m world champion. ‘Carl’s another level above’ – that’s what they think.

“We could have taken an easier fight than this. We could have gone to the Arena (in Leeds) and had a steady one but you look down the list of IBF fighters and think ‘how are they even in the top 15?’ We’re not about fights like that.

“Now we’ve got to this level we want the big ones. After this I’m not thinking ‘I want a steady defence next year’. I want the unification fights. I want (WBO champion) Oscar Valdez, to go over to the States and do it there. I want the fights that keep you up at night because that’s what brings the best out of me.”

Warrington and Frampton will meet at Manchester Arena on December 22 in what is widely expected to be one of the fights of the year. Warrington’s 12-round win over Selby fell into that category after a bloody scrap in front of almost 20,000 at Elland Road ended in a split decision in Warrington’s favour.

Warrington, 28, was unfancied against Selby but dominated the Welshman from the opening round, cutting him early on and punishing him through the later stages. A badly-beaten Selby announced the following day that he was moving up a division, saying he had struggled to make the nine-stone featherweight limit.