Josh will be no Sof touch
JOSH WARRINGTON has vowed to put on a sensational show against Sofiane Takoucht to make up for his “cuddling contest” with Kid Galahad last time out.
The Leeds featherweight defends his IBF title against the little-known Frenchman at his hometown’s First Direct Arena on Saturday night.
It is the third defence of his crown after he narrowly out-pointed bitter rival Galahad in a dull affair in June.
That followed two fight-of-the-year contenders against Lee Selby and Carl Frampton, which turned Warrington from contender into a true world champion.
The 28-year-old has been frustrated by the lack of a unification fight with one of the division’s other world champions.
But he is aiming to put on a show this weekend to help entice a big name over to England for a return to Elland Road, the home of his beloved Leeds United.
He said: “In the build-up to the last fight, we took our eye off a few things because we were so concentrated on getting unification fights after Galahad.
“There have been talks about fights which potentially could happen, talks about Elland Road but this time all the focus has been on this fight.
“Now I get to showcase what we are really about.
“After the last fight, I want to come back with an A-class performance.
“Selby, Frampton were fights of the year but the last one was a cuddling contest.
“You want to have a win, but you don’t want to be having the equivalent of a 1-0 win on a cold Monday night. You want to be having a thriller, dominating the game for 90 minutes.”
THE glitz and glamour of Hollywood superstars is nothing unusual to Joey Lussick.
Travelling the world to follow their sporting dreams is also nothing new to the 23-year-old’s family.
But on Saturday there is only one stage and one spotlight that matters to Lussick.
That is Old Trafford and the Super League Grand Final, when Salford hope to pull off one of the biggest sensations for years.
Lussick and his team-mates will go down as Red Devils legends if they do the unthinkable and beat runaway League Leaders’ Shield winners St Helens.
And back home in Australia, all his dad’s stories of looking after some of Hollywood’s biggest stars will pale in comparison.
Lussick said: “Ever since we made it to the Grand Final I keep laughing and screaming and saying, ‘We’ve actually done it. How did that happen?’”
It’s a question that has stunned rugby league, with this fairytale ending looking a mere pipe dream at the start of the year when Salford were written off as relegation candidates.
It’s also a question that Lussick had never considered 16 months ago, with Salford not even registering on his radar.
He had played one game for home town club Manly Sea Eagles in Sydney and was desperate to follow his dad and brother’s footsteps and make it as an NRL star.
But his world turned on its head after Jackson Hastings was kicked out by Manly after a bust-up with the coach and team-mates.
Salford stepped in to rescue Hastings’ career and he begged good mate
Lussick to join him.
Half-back Hastings has taken Super League by storm, winning the Man of Steel award on Sunday, and hooker Lussick isn’t far behind in the eyes of the Salford faithful.
He said: “If it wasn’t for
Jackson I probably wouldn’t be here but I am so thankful to Salford for giving me the opportunity.
“We’ve been friends a long time and we now live together. We just keep looking at each other p***ing ourselves laughing at the thought of playing at Old Trafford.
“We went recently to watch Man United play Arsenal and as they walked out we just looked at each other and said ‘can you imagine doing that?’
“Now here we are. It’s unbelievable but it’s not just about getting there.
We really want to win.
“At the start of the year we always believed we could do something but from the outside it looked unlikely.
“The club has no owner, they’ve had financial problems in the past and are still struggling, there isn’t a big fan base and Manchester City and United are on their doorstep.
“But the belief in the group amazing and the momentum building every week.”
Looking on proudly on Saturday will be dad Jason (inset), a former Manly star and has has been been friend of the rich and famous. Lussick said: “Dad had a protection business and looked after lots of high-profile people like Colonel Gaddafi’s son and actors including Sandra Bullock.
“A few years ago Oprah Winfrey asked him to look after her but he turned it down because my sister Bonnie had just had twins and he wanted to help her. “He has definitely lived one hell of a life, that’s for sure, but family is very important to him. “Back in Australia, the whole family live together. There are about 10 of us, so it’s a mad house.”
Younger brother Freddie, 18, is at NRL champions Sydney Roosters while older brother Darcy, 30, plays for Toronto.
They won promotion to Super League at the weekend and Lussick said: “We played together at Manly and now it’s surreal to think we’ll be playing against each other in Super League.”