Josh Warrington vs. Patrick Hyland results

By Boxing News - 07/30/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten #1 WBC featherweight contender Josh Warrington (24-0, 5 KOs) hammered an over-matched 32-year-old Patrick Hyland (31-3, 15 KOs) into submission in stopping him in the 9th round on Saturday night at the First Direct Arena, in Leeds, United Kingdom.

Warrington knocked Hyland down three times. Warrington dropped him at the end of the 8th and then two more times at the start of the 9th. The fight was halted after the second knockdown in the 9th.

Hyland showed respectable power in the fight. He’s got a little pop in his punches, and he looked good initially. However, Hyland wasn’t able to throw enough punches to keep Warrington off of him. If Hyland could have doubled his own work rate, then I think Warrington would have been in trouble, because he was throwing with nice power. I don’t know if it was an age thing or what, but Hyland just could not throw enough punches to make the fight a competitive one.

It’s interesting that Matchroom Sport selected Hyland as Warrington’s opponent rather than a contender. Hyland is a second tier fighter that was coming off of a 2nd round knockout loss to Gary Russell Jr. last April. Believe me, Russell Jr. looked much better beating Hyland than Warrington did tonight. That’s why I don’t think it would be a good idea for Warrington to challenge Russell Jr. for his WBC title, because I think he would be obliterated by the talented champion. I’m just saying. Warrington is a decent contender, but he doesn’t have world champion type talent. Warrington is more of a fringe level guy as far as talent goes. I have him ranked #15 in my own rankings for the featherweight division. Being #15 is respectable given all the other talented fighters in the division.

Hyland couldn’t keep up with the high work rate from the 25-year-old Warrington. Hyland had no problems taking Warrington’s feather-fisted punches, but it was the sheer accumulation of punches that eventually wore him down.

With this win, Warrington could soon be getting a title shot against one of the featherweight champions. It’ll be up to Warrington’s promoter Eddie Hearn which one he’ll he face. My guess is that Warrington will fight an in house match against fellow Matchroom Sport fighter Lee Selby, who holds the IBF title. I can’t see anything good coming of that fight for Warrington. I think Selby is way, way too good for the likes of Warrington. Likewise, WBC champion Gary Russell Jr. is too fast, too powerful, and too talented for the likes of Warrington to beat him in my opinion. Further, I see WBO champion Oscar Valdez as potentially the best of the bunch, and I don’t think it would be at all competitive if Warrington were to face him.

I just don’t see the talent being there for Warrington to defeat any of the champions at featherweight. Come on, if Warrington is thrown into the ring with Gary Russell Jr., Lee Selby, Carl Frampton or Oscar Valdez, he’s going to lose and lose badly to those guys. I’m just saying. I could pretend that Warrington won’t get beaten, but the reality is that he would have problems against those guys because they’re too skilled, too powerful, and too experienced for the likes of Warrington.

Instead of Hearn putting Warrington in with the champions, he should match him against the likes of Matias C. Adrian Rueda and Joseph Diaz. If Warrington beats those two guys, then he can fight for a world title. If he loses to either of them, then Hearn needs to cut his losses and move on and look to sign guys that have the talent to win world titles. Frankly, I think Diaz and Rueda would literally wipe the deck with Warrington. I don’t expect casual boxing fans to be familiar with either of those guys, but the hardcore fans will know who I’m talking about. It’s just sad that the sanctioning bodies has Warrington ranked above the likes of Diaz, because all you need to do is look at one two minute clip of Diaz to realize this guy is the better fighter of the two. I wonder why Hearn didn’t match Warrington against Diaz so that he prove that he’s worthy of a title shot.