HOMETOWN HERO
Josh Warrington upsets Lee Selby in Leeds to become world champion
‘CAN WE DO THE REMATCH? I COULD HARDLY SEE IN THERE’
LEE SELBY’S IBF featherweight title defence against Josh Warrington featured a master boxer who, supposedly, could not punch yet had originally announced himself with stunning stoppages of Stephen Smith and John Simpson. In the opposing corner awaited a pressurefighter who, we were told, was equally feather-fisted and had merely hustled and bustled his way into contention by picking up the English, British, Commonwealth and European titles.
The tetchy build-up had led to the assumption that the air would be thick with toxicity by the time Barry’s Selby and his Leeds-based mandatory challenger walked to the ring. The supposition was that Warrington, 27, would lose handily, prompting riotous scenes from his fans.
Instead, the underdog completely flipped the script by busting Selby up within a few rounds, then going on to comprehensively beat the 31-yearold. Forget the 115-113 score for Selby from judge Alan Davies. Phil Edwards and Frank Lombardi turned in more accurate representations of the fight, with tallies of 116-112 and 115-113 respectively in favour of Warrington, amidst a carnival atmosphere.
A small contingent of Welsh fans played a part, too. Tucked away in the John Charles stand of Leeds United FC’S Elland Road stadium, they lustily tried to add their voices to the roar, only to fall silent within minutes as it became apparent that their man was in for a monumental struggle after Warrington came flying out of the blocks to land the first of many solid left and right hooks to the head.
Selby had been touted as the superior technician coming in, yet there is more to boxing than lateral movement and tassels, as proven by Warrington’s ability to close the range, land the right shots at the right time, and marry controlled brawn to effective aggression. Selby’s hopes and vision had started to fade as early as round two – a pair of right hooks stunned him and a clash of heads caused a cut on the outside ridge of his left eye.
Chris Sanigar was given plenty of opportunity to work on the wound, yet the steady flow of red became a crimson river cascading down Selby’s face. It was joined by a gash over his right eye in the sixth. That one was attributed to a punch by referee Michael Alexander. The crestfallen champion’s face had become a mask of blood that prompted an urgency that had previously been lacking.
However, even Selby’s successes added to his problems. He found a home for his solid left hook to the body in the middle rounds, only for Warrington to counter this shot with clumping rights to the head. By the championship rounds, Selby looked like a victim of Hellraiser’s demonic Cenobites. Many, this writer included, had written Warrington off, only for him to put a dripping red cherry on a bloody cake by avoiding Selby for most of the final frame to become the city’s first world titlist.
Once the dust settled, talk turned to the next fight on the agenda. Carl Frampton is doable, but Frank Warren wants both men to squeeze in a couple of fights first, which is understandable, at least from the promoter’s point of view, when you consider that he now has two of the UK’S biggest ticker-sellers outside of Anthony Joshua in his stable.
As for Selby, he has never been a big draw, he has not performed well in recent fights, yet on his night might still be good enough to turn most 126 or 130-pounders over. A move up in weight is likely, but it is going to be a long, hard road back as he moves from the ranks of the hunted into the ‘Who needs him?’ club. He deserves more than that.
A brace of undercard fights went on earlier than anticipated, and in the case
of Nicola Adams’ win over Soledad del Valle Frias, ended farcically. Leeds’ Adams did her best, only for it to become quickly apparent that her Argentine opponent was way out of her depth. A timekeeping error didn’t help matters – the fight had been scheduled for 10-twos, only for the first round to go 47 seconds over this limit.
A left to the body folded Frias at the end of the extended opener. She showed no sign of recovering as referee John Latham reached his full count. The official time was given as 1-59, but was later amended to 2-59.
Chorley’s Jack Catterall was pencilled in for 10 rounds, only for France’s
Christopher Sebire to suffer a shoulder injury after being decked by a straight left hand. He beat the count, then told referee Steve Gray that he could not continue, and the third man waved the contest off at 1-47.
This turn of events meant that the live float between Willy Hutchinson and
Adam Jones went out just before the Kaiser Chiefs and the main event.
³ The street party outside the venue had moved into the stands, so the fledging pro from Carstairs, Scotland and the experienced, tough, Denaby Main journeyman ended up fighting a fourrounder in front of a huge audience.
It even prompted Jones to be a bit more expansive than he usually would be. He landed a left hook in the final round and did enough to get a share of the session on Mr Latham’s 40-37 card.
Bradford’s Darren Tetley and Ellesmere Port’s Mason Cartwright,
both undefeated going in, faced off over 10. Cartwright looked like he was going to architect a stoppage win as he landed often and hard with his right hand in the early rounds. He was coming down in weight after a recent run at 154lbs and it showed as he continually hammered home heavy shots.
There was trouble brewing for Tetley, who struggled to infuse his work with any enthusiasm and was looking a bit sorry for himself by round four. Then a drop in pace brought him back into it and his southpaw straight left began to take over.
Bloodied from the nose and labouring, Cartwright was dropped by a looping left hook in the eighth.
He made it through the round only for a huge left to open up a terrible gash on the right side of his lip in the ninth. Upon inspection, the doctor immediately advised referee Edwards to wave it off at 2-17.
Ohara Davies notched a win over Glasgow’s Ahmed Ibrahim. Hackney’s Davies has cut a more low-key figure outside the ring in recent times and, in truth, looked uninspired for large periods, despite cantering to a 60-54 victory for Mr Latham.
Oldham hopeful Mark Heffron boxed patiently early on against Adam Grabiec,
before moving through the gears in round three of their scheduled six. A right uppercut knocked the Pole’s gumshield out and Heffron went a step further in the fourth, stunning him with two right hands then landing a right hook that forced the intervention of Mr Latham at 2-30.
Failsworth’s Danny Wright looked like he might have a few problems with Romford’s Mikey Sakyi in round one, only to do enough to win that one, then more than enough to sweep the remaining five with ease en route to a 60-54 win from Mr Latham.
Referee Alexander had a busy start to the night, officiating five fights in quick succession, starting with a routine 60-54 win for Cardiff portsider Fred Evans over Middleton’s Darryl Sharp. Doncaster’s Reece Mould also netted a points victory. He beat Barcelona-based Nicaraguan
Arnoldo Solano 40-36. Meanwhile, local favourite Jack Daniel wasted little time as the southpaw sunk in a straight left to the body to dispatch Latvia’s
Zigurds Krauklis at 1-35 of the opener.
A 40-36 card was turned in for Jack Bateson as the Leeds man switchedhit his way to a win over another Barcelona-based Nicaraguan in Jose
Hernandez. There were also no surprises for Leicester’s Lyon Woodstock against Nicaraguan Edwin Tellez. He swept every round to post an 80-72 victory over the Barcelona resident.
THE VERDICT The Warrington household has recently been blessed with twins, and what more perfect present could their father deliver them than a well-earned world title?