Josh Warrington is now a two-time defending featherweight champion and reclaimed the IBF belt today with a seventh-round TKO win over Kiko Martinez in front of a raucous crowd in Leeds, England.
Warrington (31-1-1, 8 KOs) dropped Martinez (43-11-2, 3O KOs) in the first round, catching him loading with a right hand and putting him on the canvas that came after the heads clashed hard and made Martinez complain to referee Marcus McDonnell, who pretty much ignored it.
The fight was tough in that regard, with heads bumping frequently, Warrington often leading with “shoulder kicks” and Martinez developing cuts to both eyes and one to the forehead. The Spanish veteran never gave up, although he seemed knocked out early on and had at least fought his way back into contention before getting injured again in round seven after rocking Warrington a bit with a good right own hand. After calming down from eating that shot, Warrington increased the pressure until McDonnell stepped in.
Warrington, who vacated the IBF title in early 2021 rather than have a rematch with Kid Galahad — the man Martinez would upset late last year — had regained the belt he never really lost in the ring.
“I have my belt back. It wasn’t just for me or my family, my wife and kids, it was for everyone who has genuinely supported me,” Warrington said. “We may not do the same acts as the big boys, your AJs and your Furys, but I’d rather have an arena full of that crowd than fuck 100,000 tourists every day of the week. I know I’m not Eddie’s (Hearns) favorite tea, but when I’m around and these damn piles turn out, he knows there’s nothing quite like it in the world, let alone the country. We’re not the biggest ticket seller, but we’re good at it, we’re not bad. I love you Leeds!’
“This is the crucial night to become a two-time world champion. One of the reasons he lost to Mauricio Lara is because he didn’t have that much,” Hearn said. “He was a different fighter (fighting without a crowd). Without her he wouldn’t have this chance. They support him for eight years. There’s no free seat in the house tonight. I know I’m going to get a few boos, but you’ve all been incredibly supportive of this man.”
“I wouldn’t mind some bread pudding, a cheeseburger, a pint with all of that. I wouldn’t mind going home and having sex with my wife because it’s been about four weeks,” Warrington said when asked what’s next. He also said he would like to have a “day off” in the States before being congratulated by WBA champion (kinda not his fault) Leigh Wood, who was then also asked about unification. Wood hesitated, saying it was Warrington’s night and they could talk about it later.
If Warrington is going for unification in the States, Leo Santa Cruz has the WBA Super World title (the higher version of the belt that Wood holds, although Wood deserves credit) and Mark Magsayo has the WBC belt, although Magsayo faces a mandatory one Challenger faces Rey Vargas in July. However, there is no certainty that the association is important to them; Warrington could easily defend himself in Las Vegas, New York, California or Texas, wherever Matchroom is running this summer or fall.
Warrington ended up a -350 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook and paid off for those who saw him as the favorite for a replay against Martinez, who had been at +275.
Highlights of Martinez vs Warrington 2
Ebanie Bridges UD-10 Maria Cecilia Roman
The results here were 97-93, 97-93 and 100-91, the latter card from Don Trella. It’s a bad card, but not one that I’m going to get upset about for a moment. I had it 96-94 for Bridges, but that’s to Roman with some good swing rounds, and I think that’s as close as anyone could have gotten. Bridges won that fight, earning the W and thereby winning the IBF Bantamweight Title.
Bridges (8-1, 3 KOs), if we’re being honest, was very obviously headed for a world title, especially since her first shot at a belt a few fights ago, her loss to Shannon Courtenay in 2021. Matchroom rightly has Seen in Bridges a very marketable fighter not only by “flaunting” her looks but also by fending her ass off. Her personality got her in the door and her heart and determination kept her there and made her very welcome. She continues to improve.
She did more and all the better work here as Roman (16-6-1, 0 KO) had his moments of success especially in the final rounds but it just wasn’t quite enough to survive the quick start from the younger, physically stronger aussie
Matchroom has a unification opportunity at 118 with Jamie Mitchell beating Shannon Courtenay. There’s also the possibility of a Bridges-Courtenay rematch, although Bridges didn’t seem that keen unless Courtenay gets a title again. But even money can speak with the times, it’s not like she had any concrete offers for them ringside as she hilariously and justifiably berated the crowd.
Maxi Hughes UD-12 Ryan Walsh
Judges had these 118-110, 119-109, 120-108, Bad Left Hook had 118-110 on our unofficial map. I think you could have won up to four rounds for Walsh, but you could have won as few as zero rounds for Walsh, this was another clear, largely one-sided win for Hughes.
Hughes (25-5-2, 5 KOs) is just a lot of fun right now if you’re someone who’s been watching him over the years, including his losses. He’s gotten that crucial bit better, so he’s now dominating fights with “similar-level” opponents instead of potentially losing to those guys. I don’t think he’s in the top 10 in lightweight right now, much as I’d like to put him there, because lightweight is a good division with a lot of talent. But there are divisions where a couple or three guys in the top 10 aren’t in the kind of shape Hughes is in right now. In a division more akin to this one, that streak of victories over Jono Carroll, Viktor Kotochigov, Paul Hyland Jr, Jovanni Staffon and now Walsh would put you in the top 10, though it’s more because of the division’s depth missing.
But Hughes really just maxed out his level and skills, which even really great fighters sometimes never reach, even if they’ve had terrific successes. He gets every ounce of quality out of himself and fights with outstanding confidence. He uses his jab well, mixes his shots well, is solid defensively, moves his head with high coverage, lets opponents miss; It’s a joy to see a guy you would call an “artisan” fighter have the run he has. He has great dynamics.
Undercard highlights and results
- Dalton Smith TKO-10 Ray Moylette: Credit has to be given to Moylette (12-2, 5 KOs) as he didn’t roll over for one of Britain’s better prospects here and Smith (10-0, 8 KOs) did a good job on the evening. He also had to take a couple of clear low hits, one that really did some damage in round seven, leading Smith to dock two points and flirt with a DQ. They didn’t seem intentional, but they were brutal shots, especially the second one. But Smith also adapted well when body shots were basically a no-go, and he dropped Moylette twice in the 10th and final round to secure the stop when Moylette’s corner came in legitimately. Obviously Moylette wanted to keep fighting but the corner made the right call, the fight was way above him at that point and he was thrashed. Smith remains a real contender at 140, 25 and impresses every time, and not only does he perform exactly the same every time.
- Skye Nicolson PTS-6 Bec Connolly: Connolly (3-12, 0 KO) tested many prospects, but at this point she doesn’t offer much of an actual test, if we’re being honest. Nicolson (2-0, 0 KO) is a fantastic prospect, a well trained boxer from a fighting family and Olympic gold medalist for Australia in Tokyo so there’s no shame in losing a 60-54 sweep to Nicolson but Connolly had it gave up a lot in the second or third round, so it wasn’t exactly fun to watch. Bec also has another fight scheduled for April 15th in London against Nina Hughes. As for Nicolson, she was able to make her way pretty quickly in the shallow world of women’s boxing and has also gone on to say that she wants to compete in Paris in 2024, so we’ll see where her focus goes, particularly next year. She’ll probably have fights like this for a while yet.