It was a night for emotions, a night, ultimately, for tears. With his career on the line, Josh Warrington put his horror 2021 behind him as he regained his IBF featherweight title with a seventh-round stoppage of Kiko Martínez in Leeds last night.
A little over a year ago, Warrington, 31, seemed on the verge of some big fights. But having seen his career stalled by the pandemic in 2020, things fell apart last year.
This was his night, though. After a whirlwind start in which he knocked down Martínez in the first round, he then broke the champion down, busted him up and when his chance came, he took him out.
Warrington beat Martínez in the same venue back in 2017, before he had become a world champion. That he was fighting the Spaniard again and for a world-title belt he had given away only 14 months ago is a sign of how Warrington’s options have shrunk.
He gave the IBF belt away to avoid a rematch with Kid Galahad in the hope that big fights would be coming. But he ended up on the wrong end of a fearsome mauling from Mauricio Lara, a little-known Mexican. And his hopes of revenge in the rematch last year were ended when a clash of heads left Lara badly cut, leading to a technical draw. Meanwhile, Galahad won the vacant belt, only to lose it to Martínez in his first defence.
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It was Martínez’s second reign as IBF champion, the first ending in 2014 when he was beaten by the now retired Carl Frampton. At 36, it is likely that his best days are behind him.
The First Direct Arena was a happy hunting ground for Warrington, though. This was his 11th fight at the venue — all wins. The noise as Warrington walked to the ring was deafening. Whether he was carried on by the emotion or not, Warrington had a brilliant start, spearing Martínez with jabs and opening up with a series of hooks. A wide left hand seemed to cut Martínez on the nose, with the Spaniard complaining about a clash of heads. But moments later, Warrington landed a big right that sent Martínez to the canvas.
Martínez was warned for hitting on the break and then landing one after the bell, but Warrington rushed out again at the start of the second round like there was no tomorrow.
This time Martínez took it and, backed up against the ropes, he began firing back.
At the start of the third round, Warrington looked to pace himself for the first time and establish his jab, although Martínez accepted the invitation to come forward, throwing hooks over the top of Warrington’s guard.
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Martínez was starting to look banged up, though, and Warrington forced him back to the ropes again in the fourth, trying to create an opening. There was more control in the fifth, as Warrington moved away and walked Martínez into a steady stream of counter punches. Cut over his left eye and with a badly damaged nose, Martínez was lifted off his stool by his cornerman before the sixth.
The round was a tough one for Martínez, who took a lot of punches, and he looked unsteady on his feet as he walked back to the corner. Martínez came forward at the start of the seventh round but Warrington landed two big rights that staggered the champion. Martínez landed a right in response, but Warrington fired a right that sent his opponent back to the ropes. This time there was to be no escape, as Warrington drove Martínez into the ropes with no let up until the referee, Marcus McDonnell, stopped the fight.
