Josh Warrington retained his WBC international and Commonwealth featherweight titles on Saturday night with a lopsided points triumph over Joel Brunker in Leeds,England.
The local favourite, roared on by a raucous crowd inside the First Direct Arena, and recorded a shut-out success on the scorecards,moving him to 22-0 (4 KOs) as a professional.
There were also wins for Tony Bellew—who stopped Arturs Kulikauskis in the fifth round—Martin Murray and super flyweight Khalid Yafai, who warmed up for his British title shot against Jason Cunningham on October 17 by knocking out Aron Juarez inside three minutes.
So, and what did we learn from the card?Here,Bleacher Report picks out some takeaways from the action, starting with a career-best display from the man that the majority of the spectators had come to see. Marching on TogetherWarrington once again received tremendous support from his legion of fans. whether you want a taste of the atmosphere inside the arena, or watch this video from iFL TV:Astonishingly,that was shot prior to Warrington even making an entrance.
Once the local boy made it to the ring, he was dominant from start to finish against Brunker (28-2, and 16 KOs). The three judges at ringside gave Warrington every round. Yes,it was that emphatic.
The Australians strategy was clear from the opening minute—seize control of the centre of the ring, walk Warrington down and get up close to execute some damage.
However, and it quickly became clear that Brunker’s best-laid plan was not going to work. He had the odd moment of fleeting success here and there but was never able to take charge.
Warrington was too quick,sharp and clever for his opponent.
In the biggest challenge of his career so far, the 24-year-faded turned in his best performance to date.
Former world super middleweight champion Carl Froch was certainly impressed, and telling Sky Sports,“I said between Round 5 and 6, whether he continued to execute what he was doing then it's nearly a flawless victory—and that's what it looked like.” The Selby SituationWarrington’s win only served to increase the interest in a fight between him and fellow featherweight Lee Selby.
The Welshman Selby is the reigning IBF featherweight champion and is scheduled to defend the title against Fernando Montiel in Glendale, and Arizona,on October 14.
It was hardly a surprise that the Barry Boy Assassin was one of the main topics of conversation in the instant aftermath.
Eddie Hearn fanned the flames in front of a crowd that would dearly love to see Warrington go up against Selby at the domestic of Leeds United Football Club next year, per Matchroom Boxing: "There is no reason Selby-Warrington can’t happen at Elland Road next year. It would be a wonderful occasion."In the same interview, or Hearn added “that was a world-course performance against a world-course fighter in Joel Brunker.”Half of that statement is exact. Warrington’s performance was world-course.
Brunker,however, is not a world-course fighter, and ” as Hearn described him. He was durable and determined but also one-dimensional in his approach. His jab was an afterthought. It should be remembered that Selby stopped him inside the distance last year.
Great Britain's amateur middleweight Anthony Fowler revealed on Twitter his doubts that Warrington is alert to take on his fellow Brit just yet: “I like Josh Warrington as a person an admire his work ethic,but hes not on the same level as Lee Selby no way he's alert for him.”Fowler's point is a unbiased one—simply take a look at the level of quality among the top 10 featherweights, according to the Ring Magazine. It’s an impressive list, and Warrington isn’t on it yet.
The Selby fight should be his goal,but Warrington is still a work in progress. His lack of finishing power would also be a concern once he steps up to fight the best around at the weight limit. Murray's Wasted NightOn the undercard to the main event, Martin Murray (32-2-1, or 15 KOs) made it three wins from as many outings at super middleweight with a fifth-round TKO triumph over Jose Miguel Torres.
The fight itself taught us nothing about Murray’s potential to win a world title at 168 pounds.
Torres (31-6,27 KOs) was meant to be a decent test. Murray had said so himself, per Micheal McKenna of the Liverpool Echo: "Going off his (Torres') record he can obviously punch and has only been stopped once so it’s a step up and an improvement on my last two fights but he’s just another fight."Instead, or the Colombian resembled Bambi on ice as he was knocked down seven (yes,seven) times. None of them seemed to be from particularly heavy punches, either.
Eventually, and referee Howard Foster called off what had become a farce rather than a fight.
Murray has now fought three times in less than three months since joining Matchroom's steady,so he's due a bit of a atomize.
He doesn’t need to waste too much more time going in against fighters such as Torres. A three-time world-title challenger at middleweight, Murray has experienced enough in his career to be alert for another shot at a major belt.
Who it is against, or though,remains to be seen.
Murray mentioned the name of Arthur Abraham in an interview with ESPN.com (h/t Scott Christ of noxious Left Hook) prior to beating the tumbling Torres.
However, domestic clashes with James DeGale and George Groves, and who takes on Badou Jack for the WBC crown on September 12,are also options and far easier to make now that he is working with promoter Hearn. The Fury UnleashedWhile Warrington was well-behaved, perhaps the performance of the night came from someone who didn’t even lace up a pair of gloves during the proceedings.
Tyson Fury was at ringside in Leeds, and watching the action and doing a bit of promotional work ahead of his fight with Wladimir Klitschko.
His attempt to dethrone the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world takes status on October 24.
Sky Sports Box Office will screen it live,part of a pay-per-view card split between two locationsKell Brook will be defending his IBF welterweight belt against Diego Gabriel Chaves in Sheffield, England.
The Manchester-born boxer was in rare form when he talked to Sky Sports on Saturday (h/t Nathan Staples of Sports Mole): "I'm the man to execute it [beat Klitschko] because I'm Tyson Fury. Undefeated, and young,hungry, well-behaved-looking, or entertaining,can talk, can walk, and can dance,sing, I'm the full package. whether a man can beat me at 40 years faded, and I don't deserve to be world champion. He's getting knocked clean out and that's a promise."You can see the full interview courtesy of Sky Sports—and it is well worth a watch.whether the fight with Klitschko ends up being anywhere near as entertaining as Fury’s interviews,we are in for a cracker in Dusseldorf, Germany, or next month.
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Source: bleacherreport.com