Josh Warrington has signed a five-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing as he aims to land the vacant European Featherweight title against Davide Diele at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on October 4, live on Sky Sports.Warrington is on the brink of completing a dream year in the ring, landing the Commonwealth title as the underdog in Hull against Samir Mouniemne in November, defending it for the first time against Rendall Munroe in Manchester five months later before his breakout night in his hometown in May, where he comprehensively outpointed Martin Lindsay to add the British crown to his Commonwealth strap in front of a raucous crowd at the First Direct Arena.
The 23 year old claimed those two titles after Lee Selby had vacated them, as he has done with the European strap as he prepares for an IBF World title eliminator, and the Leeds star is aiming to build a fortress in Yorkshire and be the flag-bearer for boxing in the city.
“It’s been a brilliant year for me and I hope I can end it in style on October 4,” said Warrington. “It’s great to have signed the deal so that I know that there’s going to be more big nights in Leeds in the next year.
“I have already had orders for over 1,300 tickets and I reckon I might do 2,000 for this one. Against Lindsay it was pretty short notice and on a Wednesday night, so this time there’s plenty of time to promote the show and the fans can look forward to a great night out in the city. The atmosphere was incredible last time and I reckon we’ll top that for this one.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn expressed his delight at securing Warrington’s services and believes that the popular Leeds man has the chance to become a new fan favourite in British boxing.
“Josh is the biggest ticket seller in the country right now, and we have an opportunity to do something very big in Leeds,” said Hearn. “We dipped our toe in the water in May and now we’re diving in headfirst. It’s a huge opportunity for Josh and I think we could see one of the most memorable atmosphere in a British arena for some time.”
Warrington’s title clash is ably supported on the bill by a host of big name Brits. Former two-weight World champion Ricky Burns begins life at Light Welterweight on the card in a ten-round fight, Light Middleweight World title challenger Brian Rose faces Juan Manuel Bonanni, Liverpool’s unbeaten Super Middleweight sensation Callum Smith defends his WBC International title and Tyrone Nurse fights for the vacant Commonwealth Light Welterweight title, with opponents for the latter two fights and Burns announced soon.
