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It's do or die time for Josh Warrington

He returned to the ring last February to face unheralded Mauricio Lara. The bout was considered nothing more than a tune-up bout. Warrington entered the ring a 33-1 favorite. 

 

He exited a loser for the first time.

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Warrington vs. Lara 2
Warrington vs. Lara 2

Eight months ago, Josh Warrington was sitting on top of the world.  

 

Overlooked and underrated, Warrington captured a couple of English titles. In 2018 he upset Lee Selby to win the IBF featherweight.  

 

His motto was determination and hard work.  

 

He was the little engine who could.  

 

His proverbial roll continued when he shocked an overconfident Carl Frampton in 2019. He followed up that victory by edging previously undefeated Kid Galahad. Sidelined due to the worldwide pandemic, Warrington vacated his hard-won title after the organization insisted he fight Galahad again. 

 

Their first fight had been an ugly affair. Warrington wasn’t interested.   

 

He returned to the ring last February to face unheralded Mauricio Lara. The bout was considered nothing more than a tune-up bout. Warrington entered the ring a 33-1 favorite. 

 

He exited a loser for the first time, being brutalized by the heavy-handed Lara for nine rounds. Warrington was buckled in the first round, floored in the fourth, and knocked out in the ninth. His loss sent shock waves through the boxing world.  

 

"What had happened to Josh?" was the lament circulating the airwaves of England and his hometown of Leeds. Pretty simple. Lara went into the fight with nothing to lose. As soon as he hurt Warrington, his confidence grew. Warrington, though not a big puncher, threw away his defense and rumbled. His sturdy chin and work rate dropped.   

 

“I was a bit too arrogant and relaxed and that isn’t normally me. His confidence grew and he chipped away. He then caught me in the fourth and that was the fight," Warrington told Donald Gmcae of The Guardian website last week. 

 

The damage done to Warrington physically was horrific, including a fractured jaw, burst eardrum, and shoulder separation suffered after crashing to the canvas. What about mentally?  

 

Advised to take a long layoff, Warrington asked for a rematch. Lara acquiesced. 

 

Part two goes down this Saturday at Emerald Headingly Stadium in Leeds. 

 

Lara feels that Warrington has been disrespecting him. 

 

"Warrington said that I got lucky," said Lara. "Believe me. There’s no luck in boxing. I’ve never won anything with luck. I won with hard work and a lot of discipline."  

 

“We’ve learned from our mistakes, " said Warrington last month. "I’d like to bring a top-class Josh Warrington performance for this next one.”

 

He then added, "If we were to box 100 times, I think 99 times I’d beat him. That’s the only time he was successful was that last time out." 

 

Confidence. It can only take you so far.  

 

Warrington knows that his career is on the line.  

 

“There’s no point in hanging about if I can’t mix it with this guy,” he said to BBC Sport. “What’s the point? 

 

Indeed. 

 

Warrington is the more skillful fighter. But you never know about a fighter’s whiskers after a melt down.  

 

Can his chin take it when Lara lands? 

 

I think so. 

 

Warrington by decision. 

 

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