Josh Warrington hopes to take his world title Stateside and unify the division in the new year after an entertaining win over Carl Frampton.
The Leeds man outpointed Belfast’s Frampton last Saturday, exclusively live on BT Sport Box Office, to keep hold of his IBF featherweight crown.
Warrington outworked and outboxed the former two-weight king by margins of 116-113, 116-112 and 116-112 at Manchester Arena.
And now the ex-English, British, Commonwealth and European champion is hoping for exposure across the pond along with big paydays and unifications against the other champions in the weight class, having been involved in a fight promoter Frank Warren called “the best I’ve ever seen in a British ring.”
“I don’t want steady pay days. I want to test myself and keep going,” said Warrington in the aftermath of his finest victory as a professional to date. “It’s the big nights that get me up for it.
“I like it busy. It keeps me going and next year we will go Stateside and the journey continues.
“I’d like an away trip.”
Warrington, who dethroned Wales’ Lee Selby at Elland Road back in May to claim the belt and the status of world champion, has been to America before – but never to fight.
And that is something he wants to change over the next 12 months.
“I went there in 2017 to watch Frampton against Leo Santa Cruz and took a little moment to see Carl’s fans there on the Las Vegas Strip,” he added. “I was thinking I could see the Leeds fans there so that’s what I’d like next.”
Mexicans Santa Cruz and Oscar Valdez, who hold the WBA Super and WBO titles respectively, and American Gary Russell Jr, who has the WBC crown, are next on the hitlist of the 28-year-old, who is managed by Steve Wood.
Rumours have surfaced that discussions had already been held between Frank Warren and Oscar Valdez’s promoter, Bob Arum, about the winner of the fight between Warrington and Frampton being next for the WBO king.
Warrington said: “My family are on a journey. I’m pleased for my Dad. We are a small team. We don’t have a massive reputation but we keep going against the odds and proving people wrong.
“It’s for my fans and followers too. They have stuck with me through thick and thin.
“I’m not the fastest, strongest or most intelligent boxer but I go in there and always wear my heart on my sleeve.
“There were times in the fight when I went through an emotional rollercoaster thinking: ‘How have I got to this level?’
“When I stepped in the arena there was no way I was getting beaten. It would have taken a lot to stop me.”
Article by: Elliot Foster