Whatever it is about Josh Warrington, which inspires what I witnessed in Leeds tonight, if he possessed a pint of it, he would never have to enter the ring again, such is the sheer value it would command.
Backed by a support, more likely to be seen in a field Glastonbury, Warrington, 23, produced the performance of his career to date with a scintillating 4-round demolition of the brave Davide Dieli. Clearly carrying the sporting hopes of a City on his shoulders, you could forgive the young man for being apprehensive, nervous even.
Not a bit of it, he embraces the expectation and wears it as a badge of honour, refusing to wilt under the pressure, instead allowing it to fuel him, spurred on by the desire to please his fans. In his own word’s, “If they tell me they are going to make a day of it, it fires me up to train harder and put the graft in.”
It’s not hard to see why they love him.
So, when the Kaiser Chiefs ‘I predict a Riot’ broke out during his ring entrance and the Yorkshire band’s fears were confirmed, Warrington soaked it all up, channeling the adrenaline into his performance, like the champion he is.
The reigning British and Commonwealth Champion went to work immediately when the action commenced, establishing a sharp jab, for which he is becoming renowned. The beauty of this punch is that it’s never just hung out there, it’s purposeful and the fulcrum of everything the Yorkshireman does well. The first round typified this, as Warrington doubled up time and time again, following on with straight rights, which found the target frequently.
In the second round we were treated to vintage Warrington, busy, varied and above all accurate. The game Italians head, rocked back at will, until Warrington switched the attack to the body with equal success. Dieli would fire back, with little or no success; the man in lily white was not having any of it, not tonight.
The first real cracks began to show on Dieli, during the third, in what was a breathtaking three minutes from the home favourite. So, accurate in his execution, it seemed every punch hit the target. Warrington staggered the Roman with a right hand to the body, closely followed by a solid left hook to the head, a combination Warrington would use again with success before the stanza was complete.
The end was nigh and Warrington, who before the bout had only 2 early nights in 18, was only too happy to oblige. Dieli was dropped heavy with a solid right hand, which sent him crashing into the corner, only to rise at the count of 8. But, Warrington was not to be denied and duly followed up with a mesmerising salvo to force the referee to step in, before Dieli suffered any unnecessary damage.
Hysteria reigned as the crowd erupted in a show of support, which will make him the envy of his peers and rightly so, because this was special and it’s just the beginning. Warrington now moves to 19-0 (3KO’s), with all his stoppages coming in his last 4 fights, and as such reduces Davide Dieli to 15-4 (5KO’s).
This was a tremendous performance from a fighter who is improving at a rate of knots and hot on the heels of all the players within the featherweight division, make no mistake.
The evening was brought to a fitting close with another rendition of the famed Kaiser Chief’s barnstormer in a fitting tribute to their sensational charge. Josh Warrington is going places and the whole of Leeds, it would seem, are coming along for the ride.
