Josh Warrington: Selby talks big, but I’d beat him 100%

Josh pulls no punches on a potential showdown with Lee Selby and gives his view on how this Friday’s massive Matchroom show in Glasgow, sponsored by 32Red, will go down…

It’s now been a couple of months since 32Red sponsored me for my last fight with Patrick Hyland and as you’ll hear later I’ve been pretty busy outside the ring since then. This is the first chance I’ve got to write an entry for the blog, but hopefully you’ll all enjoy reading about what’s going on in my career, my thoughts on the big shows coming up and also a bit about Leeds United thrown in too. With the guys at 32Red sponsoring the upcoming shows in Glasgow and Liverpool, now seemed like the perfect time to get going…

I took time off after my last fight to get married but I’m back in training now.  Boxing can take over your life, and we’d been planning our wedding for a couple of years so it was definitely worth having that break.  I’m just waiting on a date now for my next fight, and am hoping it will be December sometime.  I’m fully concentrating on getting to the next level and winning a world title.

I’d absolutely love to fight Lee Selby, there was talk of it happening earlier in the year but that didn’t suit because the wedding would have been a distraction. Selby has mentioned chasing Carl Frampton but Frampton has other plans. Lee hasn’t got anyone else to fight, so I don’t see any reason why it can’t happen. He’s a world champion but doesn’t fight, he’s not fought since April. He talked big about other fighters but that all backfired and blew up in his face. He needs to be a bit humbler and look at options closer to home instead of giving it the ‘big one’. He’s a good fighter; I’ve never said he isn’t. He’s gone through the division and won the British, European and IBF title and you can’t fault him for that, but he talks like he’s going to be a ‘pound for pound’ great. His last couple of performances haven’t been good and I’ve said for the last couple of years that, one hundred per cent, I’d beat him and that thought has grown even more.

I’m looking forward to watching some boxing, starting this weekend with the Glasgow show. I don’t know too much about Ricky Burns’ opponent Kiryl Relikh, only that Ricky Hatton has done some work with him. He’s got a good unbeaten record, won 21 and knocked out 19, but he’s not really boxed anyone of note. He’s stepping up massively against Burns, and it’s going to be a noisy atmosphere. Ricky has bags of experience, he knows how to do the 12 rounds, and he’s always fit. I see him winning on points comfortably; although he could possibly overwhelm Relikh for a late stoppage.

Dillian Whyte against Ian Lewison for the British heavyweight title has got a lot of hype about it because they’re from the same neck of the woods. Dillian boxed on my last show against Dave Allen; they talked well before the fight but it wasn’t the war they predicted. Whyte has a lot of punch power and he’ll want to make a statement. Lewison is a bit unknown, but I’m sure he’ll give Whyte a test. With the heavyweights it could be a case of who lands first because they both hit very hard, but I see Dillian’s experience giving him the edge. Whyte wins by stoppage.

I’ve done a lot of sparring with Kevin Hooper, who fights Scott Cardle for his British lightweight belt. Hooper is hungry, he’s been chasing this opportunity for a long time, has been training very hard and has great fitness. His boxing can be a bit basic, but I think he’ll grab this opportunity with both hands and give Cardle a hard fight. It will be close, Cardle can be tough to hit but seems to slow down in the mid to late rounds. If Hooper can keep up the pace then he could just nick it on points.

Do you think Josh has called the Glasgow card right? You can view the market for all the big fights at 32Red Sport and even get on board with Josh’s treble… Burns by points, Hooper by points and Whyte by stoppage!